Aokigahara
by qiutian103
Summary: Junsu loves to walk through Aokigahara forest at night. Jaejoong is a vampire that lives in the forest who can't help but watch Junsu every time he visits the forest. He tries to keep his distance, but that is becoming increasingly difficult as his attraction for the human grows. So, what will he do when Junsu suddenly gets hurt one night? (Nightmates, JaeSu, DB5K & other pairings)
1. Bloody Meeting

**A/N: This story is rated M because of specific chapters later in the story. The story jumps around from one POV to another which include overlapping time frames. I have this story on two other sites that let me use a different format that makes it easier to read. If you want to try one of those site instead, let me know & I'll try to PM you the links.**

One moonless night where the only light comes from the stars that peek through the trees, a man walks through the woods along a path that's only visible in his mind. He's comfortable in these woods, so comfortable that he doesn't notice the change in the air. Unaware he's being stalked by something that's otherworldly.

From up in the trees he watches as the man who has haunted his fantasies weaves through the trees, hopping over tree roots. The first time he became aware of him was by his scent. He followed it and when he finally laid eyes on him, he was stunned by what he saw. The man was beautiful. So beautiful in fact that it took him a moment to realize that the man was human.

He had ivory skin that seemed to glow in moonlight, framed by black hair, full lips the color of red temptation, and brown eyes like melted chocolate. His body was slim, but when he wasn't staring at the man's face, he often found his gaze landing on the man's plump ass. He'd been watching him for almost a month and it was getting harder to keep his distance.

It was rare for a human so full of life to wonder around the Aokigahara forest who wasn't paid to do so, and even those humans didn't dare come out here at night. But this man always seemed so at ease during his walks, despite all the dark events that have taken place, that are still taking place here. He could sense the respect the man held for these woods, which was only reason Others hadn't attacked him yet, well, that and the fact that Jaejoong was never far from the man whenever he entered the woods.

There are stories about his kind and the Others, creatures that lurk in the forest that humans no longer put much stock into, which is why there are so many deaths in this forest. They weren't all suicides like the humans seemed so inclined to believe, but humans who come here to be disrespectful to the spirits that reside within the forest are often spirited away and killed, their bodies hidden away so that they can't be given a proper burial as punishment. They were forced to become a part of the forest.

The sound of the man gasping brings Jaejoong out of his thoughts just in time to see the man trip over a tree root and fall. Jaejoong leaps from his hiding place just as the man begins sliding down the incline, which Jaejoong knows could severely injure or potentially kill the human.

As he begins to slide down the man tries to grab on to anything that will stop his fall, but is unable to get a grip on anything. Just as he's about to brace himself for the collision that he knows is coming, something snags the arm of his coat, bringing him to an abrupt halt with pain shooting up and down his right arm and shoulder. He takes a deep breath to try and clear his vision from blurring from the pain.

When he's sure he isn't going to pass out he uses his left hand to get a firm grip on the ground before turning his head to check the damage of his right arm.

 _Bad idea._

He zeros in on the blood seeping out of a huge gash on his arm that was obviously almost impaled on a sharp, thick root which had stopped his decent. He has to fight the urge to both throw up and pass out again. Forcing himself to look away from his arm and up the incline to see how far he'd fallen only to come up short.

Someone was standing at the top of the incline.

Jaejoong stared down at the man whose fall had been stopped by a broken tree root sticking up out of the ground and smelling his blood right away. Its smell so tempting that Jaejoong has a hard time focusing on anything else.

"Please, help," pleads the man, snapping Jaejoong out of his haze.

Heart racing, Jaejoong knows the smell of the man's blood would draw Others to their location soon, he quickly makes his way down to the man. Once he's close enough, he quickly invades the man's mind and puts him to sleep. He makes quick work of unhooking the man's arm before scooping him up into his arms and rushing off to the area where he entered the forest.

Once Jaejoong is sure that no one had dared to follow them he sets the man down against a tree and quickly notices how much paler he's gotten. Jaejoong's gaze goes to the man's wounded right arm and sees that it's still bleeding.

 _He's losing too much blood._

Taking a hold of the man's already torn coat sleeve, Jaejoong rips it off without a second thought, wraps it tightly around the man's wound, causing the man to wake groaning in pain.

The man blinks to clear the fog in his mind and blurry vision and comes face to face with the most beautiful man he's ever seen. Pale white skin framed by burgundy hair, full pink lips, and eyes such a bright green they seemed to be glowing. For a split second the man was sure he was dreaming, until he tried to lift his right arm only to hiss in pain when he realizes that he can't seem move to it at all.

"Are you alright," asks the green eyed beauty.

"Not sure. I can't seem to move my arm," he says with a bitter laugh. "I must have dislocated my shoulder when I fell."

"I can fix that, if you want."

"Um, I should probably have a doctor look at it," says the man leaning farther into the tree away from Jaejoong.

"What's your name?"

"Junsu."

"Junsu," Jaejoong repeats and smiles. "My name is Jaejoong. Junsu, do me a favor and look into my eyes."

Junsu can't seem to help but comply as Jaejoong's gaze seems to lure Junsu's mind into a haze. With Junsu distracted, Jaejoong quickly takes hold of Junsu and snaps his shoulder back into place while quickly muffling his shout of pain with a kiss.

It takes a moment once the pain subsides before Junsu realizes that Jaejoong is kissing him. When Jaejoong pulls away all Junsu can do is stare at him dumbstruck.

Jaejoong averts his gaze from Junsu's so he won't see the hunger Jaejoong knows is there. Kissing Junsu was a bad idea, it was far better than anything he imaged and Junsu's soft lips plus the smell of his blood still hanging in the air nearly drove Jaejoong wild. It had taken every ounce of his self-control not to sink his fangs into Junsu to find out if Junsu tasted as good as his blood smelled.

Jaejoong stands and puts a little distance between him and Junsu while being very aware of the fact that his arousal is showing and says "You should leave now and go get your arm checked out." Jaejoong turns to head back into the forest, but stops and while keeping his back to Junsu he warns, "Oh, and Junsu, it would be very unwise and unsafe to come back to the forest until that wound on your arm has completely healed. Especially at night, which you seem so fond of doing."

Junsu watches as Jaejoong disappears into the dense tree line while his heart continues to pound in his chest.

 _What the hell just happened?!_


	2. Jealousy and Uncertainty

**A/N: This part contains some minor YunJae.**

"I just can't understand your fascination with that human," says an irritated Yunho.

As soon as Jaejoong had been out of Junsu's line of sight, Yunho had dropped down from the trees to land right in front of Jaejoong. Yunho had never been one to hide the way he felt about the humans who entered the forest. But for the last month he had tried to bite back his distain in order to humor Jaejoong, well, no more.

"You should have killed him once he saw you. I mean, what the hell where you thinking Jaejoong?! What is so special about a mere human that you felt the need to save him? You should have left him to the Others, or better yet, just killed him yourself."

Jaejoong stood his ground, even in the face of Yunho's ire. "Junsu is different from the other humans Yunho. You'd know that if you watched him when he comes to the forest."

"It doesn't matter, it's not like you can be with him anyway. I saw you kiss him Jaejoong, sensed your desire for him."

Jaejoong does avert his gaze at that statement.

Yunho backs Jaejoong into a tree and grabs his chin to look him in the eye, "Why suddenly go after a human when you've always come to me before?"

Jaejoong doesn't push Yunho away when he kisses him because a part of him knows that Yunho is right. Yunho has always been there to give Jaejoong what he needed and willingly let Jaejoong take his sexual frustrations out on him, just as Jaejoong did the same for Yunho. He recognized that Yunho was jealous, so Jaejoong let Yunho take what he needed from him.

This, what he had with Yunho would never change, even if he was somehow able to have something more with Junsu, which is what Jaejoong really wanted.

Junsu is on autopilot when he gets into his car. It had taken only a second for him to realize that Jaejoong had carried him back to the entrance of the forest he always used, which was at least a thirty minute walk from where Junsu had fallen. That couldn't have been an easy thing to do, but thinking back on it Jaejoong hadn't looked the least bit winded. How was that possible? Better yet, how had he even known where to bring him to begin with?

Junsu's mind kept the events of the night on replay. He was so distracted by this that he hadn't even realized he driven home until he pulled into his parking spot at his apartment. All he was really certain of at this point was that his arm hurt like hell.

Walking up the two flights of stairs to his apartment he enters his apartment still deep in thought. He can vaguely hear his twin brother, Junho, moving around in the kitchen as he walks past it.

"Welcome home Jun…" Junho stops short when he spots Junsu's arm. "What the hell happened?!"

Junho's shout snaps Junsu out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

"Your arm!" Junho exclaims while unwrapping Junsu's arm to get a good look at the wound.

For the first time since waking up at the entrance of the forest, Junsu looks at his arm. It's covered in dried blood and it's still bleeding a little. His jacket sleeve, which Jaejoong had wrapped around his arm is soaked through. At the sight of so much blood, Junsu suddenly feels lightheaded and Junho notices, making him sit down.

"Hang on," Junho says rushing back into the kitchen to grab a clean towel and the phone. Junsu can hear him talking to someone, but he isn't sure who. "Just get down here now! Changmin will be here in few minutes." Junho sits next to him and presses the clean towel against Junsu's wound. "How did this happen?"

Junsu hisses in pain and leans his head back in the hopes that it'll make the room stop spinning. "I went for a walk and tripped," Junsu says purposely leaving out the fact that he'd been out in the forest because Junho can't stand it when he goes out there.

Junho obviously connects the dots and immediately starts to lecture him with a few 'I told ya so's thrown in as well.

Junsu is about to give in to the urge to pass out when Changmin burst through the front door.

 _Dr. Changmin to the rescue._

Changmin shoos Junho out of the way and quickly assesses Junsu's injury. "You're lucky, it's not as bad as it looks," Changmin says as he cleans the wound, "so you don't need stitches." He applies a disinfectant and wraps the wound properly.

As Changmin finishes bandaging Junsu's wound he glances up and notices Junsu's shoulder is bruised. "Did you hit shoulder too," asks Changmin as he shifts to take a closer look.

Junsu doesn't offer an answer right away.

"Someone had to relocate your shoulder didn't they? Who was with you?"

Junsu still doesn't answer right away because he still doesn't know how to explain Jaejoong's presence.

"Junsu," Junho demands, "answer him."

Rolling his eyes at his brother's tone, Junsu shrugs his left shoulder and says, "I don't know who he is. He said his name was Jaejoong. All I know for sure is that he somehow managed to carry me from where I'd fallen back to the entrance that I use."

Changmin, who had been watching Junsu all through his retelling of events quickly notices that he won't meet his or Junho's gaze. Junsu was purposely leaving things out, but why?

"Junho, go grab Junsu a glass of juice and something sweet to eat. It's amazing he was able to get home at with how much blood he lost."

"Thanks Minne," Junsu says once Junho leaves the room.

Changmin shrugs, "It's what doctors are for. Now," he says narrowing his eyes at Junsu, "what aren't you telling us?"

Junsu doesn't even try to deny it, "You're too damn perceptive for your own good." He glances toward the kitchen before saying, "I'll tell you later because I don't want Junho to overhear. I don't think he'd handle it very well."

Changmin nods his head in reply just as Junho reenters the room.


	3. Demons of the Past

Junsu gets up before Junho the next morning and leaves to meet up with Changmin at the coffee shop down the street like they planned before he left last night. Junsu hopes that once he's filled him in on everything that happened last night he would be able to convince Changmin to go back to the forest with him to have a look around. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but something was bugging him and he hoped that going back during the day would help him figure out what it was.

As soon as he enters the cafe Yoochun and Yuhwan greet him with bright smiles and Junsu does his best to return it, hoping it doesn't look too forced.

"You want your usual hyung," asks Yuhwan.

Junsu nods his head before making his way over to the back corner booth, "Yeah, and go ahead and make Changmin's usual too. He'll probably be here any second."

"Coming right up."

Changmin arrives not five minutes later and is grateful that Junsu has already ordered for him. He fights back a moan at the first sip of delightful coffee. _Yoochun makes the best coffee in the world,_ he thinks to himself while letting out a pleased sigh slip out.

Junsu chuckles at his obvious contentment bringing his mind back to why he'd had to wake up even earlier than normal this morning. Leaning back into his seat he crosses his arms and levels his gaze at Junsu. "So, are you going to fill me in on what happened last night?"

Junsu bit his lip nervously at Changmin's unwavering stare suddenly feeling unsure. Junsu's mind had kept him awake most of the night even though his body had been exhausted going over the events of the night over and over again. His body had finally forced his mind to succumb to sleep a little before four this morning, allowing him about two hours of sleep.

Now, suddenly faced with Changmin's scrutinizing gaze, the events of last night seemed even more unbelievable.

"Su," Changmin says noticing his uncertainty. "It's okay, you can tell me."

Junsu nodded before taking a deep stabilizing breath and launching in to the tale of events that he could recall before he had presumably passed out to when he'd woken up at the entrance of the forest. He leaves nothing out, his face heating a great deal when he tells Changmin about the kiss.

Changmin remains silent through the entire retelling, the only reaction he gives was a raising of his eyebrows at certain aspects of the story that caught his attention.

"I know how most of this sounds, but I swear that I'm not making this up," Junsu says hoping that Changmin will believe him. His biggest fear at the moment was that Changmin would think that he'd had a relapse last night and that he'd imagined the whole thing.

He'd often told such fantastic stories when was younger and at first his parents had simply thought he had an overactive imagination. That is, until he'd told them about the friends he'd made in the forest, which he'd gone on to describe in great detail. He had watched his parents' eyes change from parental amusement to apparent worry.

He could clearly remember the day that he had dragged Junho back to the forest with him one day after school. Junsu had thought that if Junho met his forest friends and confirmed that they were real, his parents would stop looking at him with worry. He'd been so excited for Junho to meet his friends that day, but Junho had claimed that he couldn't see them. That had been the day that Junho had started looking at him the same way his parents did.

His parents had tried to convince him that his friends weren't real, but young Junsu had called them liars and continued to tell them about all the things he and his friends did until they forbid him from going back to the forest. He didn't listen to them because he'd always been drawn to the forest, but he did stop telling them about his adventures.

For a while after that things had gone back to normal. The constant worry had started to fade from his parents' gazes and they seemed a lot more at ease. Peace had returned to his family. If only it could have lasted. The memory of what happened later still haunted his nightmares to this day.

Shortly after their tenth birthday Junsu recalled waking up in the middle of the night and immediately feeling uneasy. He had felt that someone was standing in the corner adjacent his bed behind him. He sat up slowly and turned to face the corner, but there was nothing there. He had started to relax, but then something drew his gaze upward and he froze in pure terror.

Next to the ceiling a dark mass hovered. Fear tightened his chest as he kept his eyes locked on the mass as it began to change shape and began to look like a person's outline. Where the face should have been all that could be seen was a pair of glowing red eyes.

It wasn't until the thing opened it mouth to reveal two rows of razor sharp teeth and growled at him that his mind began to function again. Junsu instantly began to let out a blood curdling scream while rushing over to his brother's bed to drag him out of the room.

His parents were halfway to their room when he pulled Junho out of the room and rushed the rest of the way over to them. He told them that someone was in their room. He cried into his mother's shoulder as she held them close while his father rushed into the room to confront the intruder.

His father came back minutes later claiming that no one was there and that Junsu must have had a bad nightmare. Junsu denied having had a nightmare with a violent shake of his head.

When his father tried to prove that no one was there Junsu had peeked around the door frame and immediately started screaming again while pointing at the thing still hovering in corner. Even when he was pointing right at it, his father couldn't see it.

They all slept in his parents' room that night and the next day after they sent his brother off to school they took him to see a doctor. The doctor said he had schizophrenia and prescribed him an anti-psychotic.

It was over a week later before the dark figure disappeared and he would sleep in his room again, nor did he ever see his forest friends again when he visited it.

It was the sound of Changmin calling his name that drew Junsu out of his memories. "Sorry what?"

"Are you okay," asks Changmin with a look of concern.

Junsu is saved from admitting that he wasn't sure when Yoochun plopped down into the booth next to him.

"What's with the serious expressions over here," he asked slightly worried by his two best friends' troubled expressions.

"It's nothing," says Changmin, "Junsu's just stressing out because he got drunk last night and made out with a stranger."

Junsu looks at Changmin with an owl eyed expression while he starts laughing.

"Seriously, that's why you're sulking? Wait, was this person ugly or something?"

"Quite the contrary actually," Changmin says with a smirk, "from the way Junsu described him, he's apparently the hottest guy Junsu has ever met."

Yoochun double over with laughter as Junsu feels himself blushing like mad while simultaneously giving Changmin his best death glare. It has virtually no effect though as Changmin simply cocks an eyebrow in response.

After Yoochun had left Junsu, instead of asking like he'd originally planned, had demanded that Changmin come back to the forest with him to compensate for making him look like an idiot. Much to his surprise, Changmin was quick to agree, claiming something wasn't adding up about his story in his mind either.

Twenty minutes later Junsu was directing Changmin where to park his car and leading him to where he'd fallen last night. They carefully make their way down the incline to the tree root that had stopped his fall.

"No wonder you nearly pasted out," says Changmin looking over the tree root. "I probably would have too if I saw this thing sticking out of my sleeve." Changmin climbed back up the incline, checking for drag marks as he went, but finding none. "It's not possible."

Junsu looked at him in question.

"There's no way someone could have carried an unconscious person up this hill, not without help anyway. There are no drag marks on the ground, meaning he had to have carried you up, but by doing that he should have left deep impressions in the ground only there aren't any. This doesn't make any sense."

"You're right," Junsu agrees with him, "but when I came to Jaejoong didn't even looked winded and there was no one else around."

They made their way back toward the entrance of the forest when a glint catches Changmin's eye. Bending down to pick up the item, Changmin realized it was a pure silver, man's charm bracelet. Examining the single charm more closely, Changmin read the inscription on the charm. _'Bambi'_.

Changmin scrunched his brows in confusion. _What kind of man has a Bambi charm?_

"What's the matter Minnie," asks Junsu making his way to Changmin's side.

"Take a look at this," he says handing the bracelet over to Junsu.

Yunho's jaw clenches as he watches the two humans making their way out of the forest when the taller of the two stopped and picked up his bracelet that fallen off his wrist last night during his liaison with Jaejoong. The bracelet had been a gift from Jaejoong a few years back after an incident involving a small male baby dear. Yunho had been eating some fruit when it had appeared, skinny and malnourished. Feeling sorry for the pitiful creature, Yunho had fed him and afterward the dear had followed him everywhere. Jaejoong, who found the situation adorable was the one who named him.

Over time Yunho grew to the love the creature as he helped him return to full health and considered him to be like a pet. A few months later Bambi had disappeared and Yunho had found himself surprisingly heart broken. They had searched for him for weeks before losing hope of him being alive. Jaejoong had given it to him in memory of Bambi. He'd rushed back here the moment he had realized it was missing.

He studied the tall man intently as the man in turn studied his bracelet and for a split second, Yunho thought he may understand Jaejoong's sudden human fascination.

 _Well damn._


	4. Battle to Protect the Humans

After his night with Yunho, Jaejoong decided to visit his friends Kaoru, Miyavi, Shou, Takeru, Aiji, and Maya in the hopes that they could help him figure out what to do about Junsu. Much like himself, the six of had all fallen for a human at some point in time. But unlike him, they had actually dated their humans for a time before either losing them to death or another human. Falling for a human wasn't exactly smiled upon by the vast majority of vampires so the six of them had started living together out of necessity. Strength in numbers and all that.

Miyavi, Takeru and Maya are currently dating humans right now so Jaejoong thinks they'd have the best advice for him. Looking up at the old mansion the six of them lived in Jaejoong unmasked his presence to alert them of his arrival as he makes his way to the front door.

The door opens as soon as he steps onto the porch, but Jaejoong stops short in shock at the sight of the one who opened it. "Reita," Jaejoong asks in astonishment, "what are you doing here?"

Reita was centuries older than Jaejoong and shared many of the same views about humans that Yunho did. Jaejoong couldn't fathom what he was possibly doing at the dwelling of six outcast vampires.

Before Reita could respond to Jaejoong's question though, Kaoru walks over to them and wraps an arm around Reita's waist. "Oh, hey Jaejoong. What's up," asks Kaoru.

"You two are dating?! When did this happen," Jaejoong asks with wide eyes.

Reita rolls his eyes and crosses his arms while Kaoru smirks smugly. "Recently."

"Did you need something Jaejoong?"

Kaoru's question brings Jaejoong's mind back to the reason why he was here. "Yeah, I need some advice. Are Miyavi, Takeru and Maya here?"

Kaoru nods and points towards the den where they were lounging around looking somewhat bored until Jaejoong walks into the room.

"Joongie," Maya exclaims jumping off the couch and rushing over to Jaejoong to envelop him in a hug, which Jaejoong returns happily.

"Please tell me you're finally going to move in with us," Aiji says looking hopeful. Aiji had been flirting with Jaejoong since the day they met, but Jaejoong continued to shoot him down.

Shou smacks Aiji on the back of the head, "Keep dreaming Aiji, Jaejoong's here because he's fallen for a human and needs advice," he says reading Jaejoong's mind.

"I hate it when you do that," Jaejoong says in annoyance.

Shou shrugs at the statement, being the oldest one there meant that he could read all their minds whenever he felt like it. Of all the vampires in this region, it's rumored that there's only one vampire that's older than Shou, but she hasn't been seen in almost thirty years. "I hate beating around the bush."

"Wait, back up a second," Miyavi says before an argument can break out. "You've fallen for a human, what about Yunho?"

Jaejoong sighs while taking a seat and Maya wastes no time hopping into his lap, "Don't get me wrong, I love Yunho, always have, but I've never been _in love_ with him. Anyway, are you going to help me or what?"

Jaejoong steps out of the mansion with a sigh, the last few hours he'd answered questions while the others tried to give him advice, most of it sexual in nature. Jaejoong only slightly regretted coming here because he'd found most of it amusing.

When Jaejoong makes it back to the forest he feels like he stepped on a live wire. Junsu was back in the forest again. Within seconds Jaejoong was dashing through the forest to the area where he knew Junsu would be, it was like the man had a built in homing beacon that alerted Jaejoong to whenever he was here.

 _I told him not to come back until he was completely healed,_ he thinks to himself while pumping his legs as fast as he can. _If the Others get to him first they'll kill him. Why don't humans ever listen to warnings?_

Junsu takes the bracelet Changmin holds out to him and studies it taking notice of the Bambi charm. Junsu frowns at the charm much like Changmin did. "Bambi? What's that about?"

Changmin shrugs.

Junsu studies it a second longer before a thought occurs to him and he quickly hands it back to Changmin. He tries to fight off the shiver that the thought brings with it, but Changmin still notices.

"What's wrong?"

Junsu shakes his head, "It's nothing, but maybe you should probably put that back where you found it." When Changmin simply raises an eyebrow at him, he voices what occurred to him, "It could have belonged to someone who killed themselves. It's disrespectful to move the belongings of the dead."

Changmin crosses his arms at the statement, "You do realize you run the risk of finding things like this and potentially even their owners whenever you come out here right?"

Junsu throws his arm up in exasperation and wincing a little when he lets them drop, "Well until last night, I didn't think anyone else knew about this entrance to the forest. I've never seen any sign of anyone else having been here at all. I mean the only other time I ever saw someone out here was when I was a kid and we both know that they weren't r…"

The sound of rustling leaves interrupts Junsu as both men turn toward the sound.

"What was that," asks Junsu grabbing onto the taller man's arm.

"Sounds like footsteps coming this way," Changmin says while unconsciously edging Junsu backwards. The footsteps sound like their gaining speed the closer they get.

Seconds later Jaejoong is leaping over an uprooted tree and landing in front of them with cat like grace. The two stare at him, mouths hanging open in shock at the almost inhuman display.

"I warned you not to come back here until you were healed," Jaejoong says whirling on Junsu. "You need to leave, it's not safe."

Changmin puts himself directly in front of Junsu and draws Jaejoong's attention away from the smaller man. Changmin by his core nature is a very rational person, but for some reason, he didn't believe for a second that Jaejoong's glowing green eyes were a trick of the light filtering through the trees like his brain was trying to rationalize.

 _He's not human._

"It's okay Changmin, that's Jaejoong," says Junsu stepping out from behind him, but Changmin throws out his arm to stop him from moving any further.

Changmin watches as Jaejoong's entire body goes tense before letting out a feral sounding hiss and launching himself at them. He hears Junsu gasp as he braces himself to catch Jaejoong, his eyes squeezing shut in anticipation.

Jaejoong felt the Other's presence before he saw it, but as soon as the Other had materialized behind the two humans Jaejoong sprang into action, launching himself at the Other. The two wrestled each other for control, but Jaejoong was stronger and went to snap his neck, but unfortunately not before the Other managed to send out a distress call.

Within seconds over a dozen more Others appeared and surround Jaejoong and the two humans. Changmin and Junsu were huddled together in fear while Jaejoong got to his feet trying to figure out a plan, but even with his speed and strength he knew he couldn't take them all out while also protecting Junsu and his friend.

Jaejoong needed a weapon, without one they were screwed.

Yunho continued to watch from up in his tree as Jaejoong appeared. He watched as Jaejoong dispatched the Other that had tried to sneak up behind the humans and then as more appeared and surrounded them.

Yunho withdrew the swords he carried with him everywhere and launched himself, "Jaejoong, heads up," he shouts tossing one of the swords to Jaejoong, which he catches with ease. Landing next to Jaejoong he quickly positions himself so that they're standing back to back.

With the weapons and Yunho there now their odds of winning this fight and protecting the humans greatly improved. Yunho just hoped it would be enough.

The Others all attacked at once, most of them went straight for Jaejoong and Yunho hoping to overpower them while a few went after Changmin and Junsu. Fortunately, the two seemed have pushed aside their fear and had taken up a fighting stance, so they weren't complete sitting ducks. They were doing a good job of defending themselves and dodging attacks, since they had both been taking martial arts classes since they were kids.

It was starting to seem like every time Jaejoong or Yunho took an Other down two more showed up to take their place. They were beginning to wear Yunho and Jaejoong down.

 _This doesn't make sense,_ Yunho thinks to himself as he beheads another Other. _Why do they keep attacking? What's so special about these two humans?_

Yunho hears Jaejoong let out a grunt of pain before he goes sailing past Yunho and hitting the ground with a thud. Yunho is instantly at his side helping him back to his feet. "We can't keep this up. We need backup."

As if waiting for that cue, seven vampires come bursting out of the trees and straight into the fight. "Way ahead of you," Jaejoong says breathing heavily, "I sent Shou an S.O.S. when I realized that these guys weren't going to let up."

Sometimes Yunho could just kiss Jaejoong for the way he always seemed to think two steps ahead and when this fight was over, he would.

Junsu and Changmin watch in awe as seven figures wielding swords come bursting out of the trees like something out of a martial arts movie and join in on the fight. At their arrival the ghostly white figures that had been attacking them turned away from them to focus all their attacks on the newcomers.

Changmin was leaning against a tree trying to catch his breath, he was no longer use to so much physical exertion, who unlike Junsu had stopped taking martial arts once he entered med school. Junsu had continued to take the classes while also pursuing soccer and dancing, making his stamina a lot greater than Changmin's.

Junsu continued to watch the fight with rapt attention, his gaze finding Jaejoong more than once. He watched as one of the newcomers was sent flying only to land in a crouch not five feet away from them. As the man lifted his head to growl at the ones who had thrown him Junsu saw his face and felt his heart stop as recognition raced through him. It was a face from his childhood, a face that wasn't supposed to be real. "Reita…"


	5. Reunion

At the sound of his name Reita turned his head toward the two humans that Jaejoong and Yunho had been protecting when they had showed up. _How does a human know my name,_ he wonders as he stares into Junsu's eyes a split second before his own eyes widen in shocked recognition. "Junsu."

"LOOK OUT," shouts Changmin pulling Reita out of his daze just as an Other brings down its' clawed hand, slicing Reita's side. Clutching at his side he dodges before the Other can land another blow. He staggers back, bleeding heavily, he'd been cut deeper than he thought.

Kaoru screams in rage while rushing the Other and tearing into him.

 _That's my boyfriend,_ Reita thinks with a smile before staggering again, only this time Junsu is there to catch him.

"Over here," he says pulling Reita over to where Changmin was waiting. "Let Changmin take a look at you, he's a doctor."

Changmin lifts up Reita's shirt to check the damage and curses under his breath. "He's losing too much blood. We need to stop the bleeding," he says ripping off his coat and telling Junsu to do the same. "I think that thing nicked an artery. Junsu talk to him, keep him awake."

Reita hisses in pain as his eyes flash from their normal golden color to blood red while he bears his fangs at Changmin as he begins to wrap the wound.

Changmin pulls away from him for a second before leaning back in and leveling his own glare back at Reita, "Ya know what, I'm not in the mood for your attitude dude. It's been one hell of an afternoon and my whole world has just been turned upside down and my mind is in chaos, so keep your damn fangs to yourself," Changmin snaps, no longer able to keep his cool. He was officially on edge. "Now, do you want me stop the bleeding or do you want to die of blood loss?"

When Reita doesn't respond Changmin goes back to wrapping his and Junsu's coat around Reita's abdomen and pulling them as tight as possible to try and stop the bleeding.

"Stop staring at me like that," Reita snaps at Junsu who had been strangely quiet this entire time.

"Sorry," says Junsu reaching out to touch Reita's face, "I just can't believe you're real. I thought I had just imagined you all those years ago."

"What the hell are you talking about," he asks wincing a little.

"I never saw you again after the doctor put me on my meds, so I thought I'd imagined you. Why did you stop coming to meet me whenever I'd come to visit the forest?"

"Because you couldn't see BoA anymore."

"Wait, so she's real too? So I wasn't crazy, but why couldn't I see her anymore?"

"Modern medicine has been known to dampen and sometimes even block a person's abilities," he explains, hissing when Changmin pulls the make-shift wrappings tighter. "Do you remember the day you came looking for her," he asks his breathing turning ragged.

Of course Junsu remembered that day. It had been the first time his parents had let him out of their sight since the doctor had put him on his meds. Junsu had considered it one saddest days of his childhood.

He had run to the forest after school because he had wanted to tell them about the dark figure he'd seen. He knew BoA would know what it was, she seemed to know everything. He'd gone to their normal meeting place and called out to her.

Only she never appeared.

He called out to her again and again, apologizing because he thought she might be mad at him for being gone for so long. He talked about what had happened, but she still didn't appear. He'd felt abandoned.

He had cried all the way home. His mother had tried to comfort him, but at the time he was inconsolable. His family thought he was losing his mind, he was terrified that the dark figure would return, and his forest friends seemed to have disappeared. After a while he had started to believe that his parents had been right.

"She was there that day," Reita says drawing Junsu out of his memories. "She heard everything you said and later told me about it. She said it would be for the best if I stayed away from you too. She got rid of the dark spirit that had followed you home."

Reita eyes had begun to droop, his body sagging.

"Shit," Changmin says pulling even tighter on the coat wrappings. "We need to get him to a hospital, he needs a transfusion."

Seeing how pale Reita had gotten, Junsu didn't think he would last long enough to make it back to Changmin's car, let alone a hospital. Reita needed blood right now. _Reita's a vampire,_ he suddenly remembers, _they drink blood._

Not giving himself time to think about what he's about to do, Junsu rips off the gauze on his arm, reopening the wound and holds it up to Reita.

"What the hell are you doing," Changmin shouts and tries to grab Junsu's arm to stop him, but he's not fast enough.

Even half unconscious, at the smell of Junsu's blood, Reita instinctively grabs the arm and wraps his mouth around the wound, sinking his fangs in deep as he begins to drink.

Junsu gasps while biting the inside of his cheek to keep from shouting at the burst of pain that Reita's fangs had caused. He braces his left hand against the tree for balance as Reita drinks deep.

"Damn it Junsu," Changmin growls, but he doesn't try to pull him away from Reita for fear of causing more damage to Junsu's arm. "You're insane."

If the situation wasn't so dire Junsu might have laughed and agreed with him. Junsu keeps his focus on Reita, watching in amazement as his color begins to returns to normal, while ignoring his own light headedness.

Reita withdrew his fangs from Junsu's arm, feeling his wince of pain while he also sighs with relief. Junsu's blood tasted even better than it smelled, and if he wasn't human Reita might have been tempted to take more. Keeping a firm grip on Junsu's arm, Reita concentrated on healing Junsu's wound as he ran his tongue along the gash to seal it. After a few more seconds Reita releases him completely, satisfied that he was able to return the favor of Junsu healing him so easily.

Junsu sags against him while taking a deep breath before inspecting his arm, "Cool, thanks."

"Thank you as well," he says. He turns his gaze to Changmin, "Thank you too, for trying to stop the bleeding."

"For all the good did," Changmin says crossing his arms.

"I would have bled out and be dead by now if you hadn't."

"Reita, where are you?!" Kaoru shouts while franticly searching for his boyfriend. He'd ripped apart the Other that had attacked Reita, but he hadn't had time to check on him after he was done. He'd seen him bleeding, but he didn't know how badly he'd been hurt because being scratched by an Other could be deadly, even to vampires if they hit you in the wrong place. _Please let him be okay._

Changmin was the first one to notice that the sounds of the battle had stopped and that someone was calling for Reita sounding rather desperate. He tentatively pokes his head around the massive tree they'd been using to shield themselves from the fight while Changmin had tried to stop Reita's bleeding. He immediately regretted looking.

Ghostly white bodies covered in blood littered the ground. Changmin had officially become a doctor two years ago and had seen plenty of gruesome sights while working the E.R., but all that paled in comparison to this. He'd never seen so much blood in one day. He was starting to feel sick.

Retreating from the sight, Changmin takes a few deep fortifying breaths before telling Reita that someone was looking for him. Changmin moves to sit next to Junsu against the tree and Reita gently transfers the groggy man's head onto Changmin's shoulder. Standing up Reita removes his and Junsu's coats from around his waist and lets them fall to the ground before making his way around the tree.

"Reita," calls Kaoru.

"Over here," he shouts while coming out from behind the tree.

Kaoru is at his side in the next instant, grabbing at him, trying to check his injury.

Reita slaps his hands away. "I'm fine," he says lifting up his shirt to show that the injury was gone.

Kaoru's eyes widen at the sight of all the blood covering Reita's abdomen. "How the hell are you even standing, let alone healed?!"

Reita actually looks sheepish, "I had a little help."

Jaejoong chose that moment to appear next to them, preventing Kaoru from demanding further explanations. "Where are the humans?"

Reita studies Jaejoong for a moment. He'd never even considered that the Junsu he had mentioned earlier might have been the same child that had befriended him all those years ago. Knowing that he was in fact one in the same brought back the protective instincts he'd felt for Junsu when he'd been a child. Reita pushes those feelings aside because he knew that Jaejoong had been more than ready to fight over dozen Others in order to protect Junsu. "Junsu and his friend Changmin are resting behind that tree," he says pointing.

Jaejoong wastes no time making his way around the tree, anxious to see if Junsu was alright. The fact that Reita had referred to both humans by name not registering in his mind.

Yunho scowls while following not far behind Jaejoong. He was still thinking about why such a large number of Others had tried to go after two measly humans. It didn't make any sense at all.

As soon as they round the tree and spot the humans, Jaejoong is instantly kneeling next to Junsu. Yunho notices that both humans are looking a little pale. Yunho stares at the taller man before stepping closer and squatting down in front of him. He can feel Jaejoong watching his every move, but he ignores him. Yunho stares straight into the eyes of the human and reads his mind. The human didn't like the way that he was staring at him and wondering what the best way to knock out a vampire was.

"Don't bother trying," Yunho says narrowing his eyes. "You're nowhere near strong enough and would only end up hurting yourself."

Changmin's eyes widen at the realization that Yunho is somehow in his head.

Yunho holds out his hand, palm up. "Give it back." When Changmin only stares at him in confusion he snarls at him, "The bracelet, give it back now."

Comprehension dawns as Changmin reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out the bracelet he'd pocketed when he and Junsu had first heard Jaejoong approaching. Dropping the bracelet into Yunho's hand Changmin quickly retracts his own hand.

Yunho stands and takes a couple steps away as he refastens the bracelet around his wrist. He finally acknowledges Jaejoong again who has also risen to his feet again as well and positioned himself in front of the humans. "You had me so distracted last night that I hadn't even realized it fallen off until this morning." Yunho smirks at the wary look that Jaejoong is giving him, while both humans were watching him with wide eyes.

"Yunho don't," Jaejoong says holding out his hands in what was meant to be a calming gesture. "We just went through hell protecting these two remember."


	6. Explanations (Part1)

**A/N: Okay, so I had to break chapter 6 into 2 parts because it turned out to be so long. I go into a lot of detail in part 2, but I hope you still enjoy it.**

Yunho grabs Jaejoong's wrists and tugs him forward. "I was protecting you, not them." Yunho doesn't give him time to react as he pulls him into a quick passionate kiss. "You're the only one I care about and if it wasn't for the fact that you're infatuated with the short one and the tall one having my bracelet, I wouldn't have cared if they lived or not. Besides," he says, his gaze flicking to Junsu then back to Jaejoong with a smug smirk, "it smells like Reita has already laid claim to your human."

Yunho steps back sparing a final quick glance at Changmin before turning his back on all three of them. "Let me know when you realize that this sudden interest in humans is stupid. In the mean time, I'll try to figure out why so many Others went bat shit over a couple humans."

Maya watched as Yunho stalked out from behind the large tree where the two humans were resting. Unable to help himself, Maya slips into Yunho's mind and finds it filled with thoughts and the image of one of the humans. Maya has to fight back his laughter as Yunho walks by. _Well, it's about time,_ Shou's voice drifts across his mind, drawing his attention away from Yunho towards Shou.

Shou meets his gaze with a knowing smile before returning his gaze to Yunho's swiftly retreating form.

"What did he mean by that," asks Changmin once Yunho disappears from view, but Jaejoong wasn't paying attention to him. He was too busy checking over Junsu for new injuries.

When Jaejoong gets to the arm that Junsu injured last night Jaejoong comes up short. He is stunned. Yunho was right, Reita's scent is all over Junsu. Reita had healed Junsu, but why?

Changmin sees where Jaejoong is staring and chimes in, interrupting the questions running through Jaejoong's mind, "Of everything I've witnessed today, Reita instantly healing after Junsu gave him his blood and then Reita licking Junsu's wound closed is probably what shocked me the most out of everything."

That caught Jaejoong's attention. "Junsu willingly gave Reita his blood? Why?"

Changmin shrugs, "Apparently Junsu was friends with him when he was little. Now, what did that other guy mean by Reita having laid a claim on Junsu?"

"It's because I fed off of him and healed him that Yunho said that," says Reita coming back around the tree with Kaoru in tow, "but he's wrong. I have no intention of laying a claim on Junsu."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"It can mean one of two things," Reita explains, "a vampire will either lay claim to a human because he or she intends to regularly feed off of that human for an extended amount of time or…"

"Or because the vampire wants to take that human as a lover," interrupts Kaoru with a sly grin pointed at Jaejoong.

Changmin doesn't miss the blush that spreads across Jaejoong's face.

Junsu yawns, stretching his body along the length of the bed before sitting up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Junsu freezes while taking in his surroundings. This wasn't his room.

Instead of the beige colored walls he was used to seeing, the walls are a pale, warm blue. Sunlight filters through a set of thick heavy curtains giving Junsu just enough light to make out the shapes of a couch, a wardrobe, and a small table with chairs. The bed was bigger and softer than his own, the sheets feeling like soft silk instead of cotton.

A soft sigh draws Junsu's attention to the other side of the bed. Jaejoong is asleep on top of the covers. Junsu is unable to stop the blush that heats his face at the knowledge that he and Jaejoong are sharing a bed, innocently or not.

The question was, why?

Junsu's mind goes back to the last thing he can remember. Recalling the fight in the forest, being attacked by ghostly white figures, Reita, blood, his arm hurting. Junsu runs his fingers along his arm, still amazed to find his skin unmarred by the gash that had been there just this morning. Or at least he assumes it was this morning, he isn't sure how long he's been out.

Turning his attention back to Jaejoong with the intention of waking him and demanding some answers, he stops short when he sees that Jaejoong is awake and staring at him, his glowing green eyes standing out in the shadowed room.

Jaejoong sits up in the bed turning his body to face Junsu. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, all things considered. Can we turn on a light or something, maybe open those curtains." Junsu actually wanted to be able to see more than just Jaejoong's glowing eyes while he talked to him.

Jaejoong does as Junsu asks, sliding out of the bed and moving over to the large window to pull back the curtains to let the late day sun in to fill the room. Jaejoong stands in front of the window for a moment before turning back towards Junsu.

Junsu has to squint against the sudden brightness before his eyes adjust. He focuses his gaze on Jaejoong, intent on getting some answers now that he can see, only to pause once again at the sight before him. Jaejoong has his back against the window, the sunlight casting his silhouette in a golden, almost ethereal looking glow.

Junsu averts his gaze downward to try and prevent himself from staring, only to notice that the clothes he's wearing aren't his own. "What happened to my clothes?"

Jaejoong sticks his hands into his pockets and clears his throat, "They had blood on them, so Reita stole some of Kaoru's clothes and helped Changmin change them. Aiji lent Changmin some if his clothes, since they're relatively the same size. There are some clean pants on the nightstand for you."

Junsu tries unsuccessfully to ignore the blush heating his cheeks, "Where are we exactly?"

"Outcast Manor," Jaejoong says taking a few cautious steps toward Junsu. "Shou thought it would be best to bring you two back here until you came to."

When Junsu just gives him a confused look, Jaejoong slips into his to mind to see how he'd managed to lose Junsu already and smiles at what Junsu's mind got stuck on. "It's called that because all the vampires that live here are considered outcasts by the vast majority of the vampire population in this region."

"Why?"

"Because all of the vampires who live here have either fallen in love with a human in the past or are currently in love with a human now," Jaejoong explains. "Most vampires don't look too fondly on mixed supernatural couples, throw a human into the mix and their reactions tend to be unpleasant."

"Oh," Junsu says thoughtfully, "but if Shou lives here, doesn't that mean that this place is actually one of the safest places to live?"

"Do you know Shou too?"

"Not personally, no," he says shaking his head no. "I remember Reita talking about him when I was little. He's supposed to be one of the strongest vampires around right?"

Jaejoong nods, "Now, you're gonna have to explain how you and Reita were friends because the Reita that I know hates humans." Jaejoong crosses his arms as he comes to stand directly in front of Junsu, "However, it seems that when it comes to you, he acts like a different vampire."

Junsu smiles at that and lets out a small laugh, "I used to look up to Reita like a big brother. Whenever I'd go to the forest when I was a kid I used to love to try and follow him all over the forest. Every day felt like some new adventure. Kind of like how the last couple of days have felt, only today was a lot more terrifying."

Jaejoong chuckles relaxing a little knowing that Junsu had no romantic feelings for Reita. Reita might have said that he had no intention of laying a claim on Junsu, but if Junsu had feelings for Reita, well, Jaejoong didn't really want to think about that. He sits down on the edge of the bed in front of Junsu. "I'm surprised that you haven't asked about the things that attacked you and your friend yet."

"I'm working on it," Junsu says fidgeting a little, "I figured I'd ask the small questions first and work my way up. Speaking of which, where is Changmin right now?"

Jaejoong laughs, "Last I saw him, he was interrogating Reita and the others."

"That sounds about right," Junsu laughs along with him, "he can't stand being clueless about anything." When his laughter dies, his face sobers, "So… what were those things."

"They're known as Others because even by supernatural standers, they're not normal," Jaejoong explains, his own features becoming serious.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well for starters, the only place they seem to exist is in Aokigahara. Normal humans can't see them and they generally stay…"

"Wait a second, back up," Junsu says interrupting him. "How is that possible and what do you mean that normal humans can't see them? Changmin was able to see them just fine earlier."

"Changmin is clearly not normal," Jaejoong says with a laugh. "It's faint, but obvious that he possesses some talent of some kind. Under other circumstances he may not have been able to see them either, but would probably at least have been able to sense them or that something wasn't right."

"O…kay," Junsu says sounding unconvinced. "But how is it possible that Others only exist here?"

Jaejoong shrugs, "I'm not entirely sure myself, but Shou thinks it has something to do with the forest itself. The forest seems to give off its own energy sometimes and those of us of a supernatural nature are easily drawn to it. You'll have to ask Shou for a better explanation."

"Do you know why they attacked us?"

"I originally thought that it might have been your injury that attracted the first one, but that doesn't really explain why so many showed up afterward," Jaejoong says, a look of concern entering his face. "Yunho was right, that kind of behavior was out of character for them. Others generally tend to act like scavengers, staying out of sight, going after weak prey and more often than not finishing off whatever is left of another supernatural's meal." Jaejoong strokes his chin in thought for a moment before shrugging, "Yunho said he was going to look into it, so hopefully he can get us some answers."

"He was the one who kissed you right," Junsu asks looking down at the bedspread. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Jaejoong bites his lip in embarrassment, "No," he says and blushes when Junsu looks up at him and raises an eyebrow at him, "it's complicated."

Junsu's next question blindsides him, "Why did you kiss me last night?"

Jaejoong flounders, unable to speak.

"Was it just a distraction so you could fix my shoulder," asks Junsu, disappointment welling at just the thought that that was all it might have been. "I mean I'm not mad, just curious."

The statement has Jaejoong surging to his feet, "No!" Jaejoong starts pacing the floor, "I mean, not completely."

"What do you mean?"

Jaejoong sighs, he might as well tell him the truth at this point, "This is probably going to sound creepy, but I've been watching you come and go from the forest for about a month now. Ever since that night I first saw you I've been able to feel you whenever you enter the forest and I somehow instantly know where you are. It's how I was able to find you today."

Junsu stares at him, unsure how to process that. He should probably feel concerned that Jaejoong had been watching and following him for almost a month, but surprisingly, he wasn't. He gets out of the bed, forgetting that he's not wearing any pants and goes to stand in front of Jaejoong. "You still haven't really answered my question. Why did you kiss me?"

Jaejoong takes a deep breath, inhaling Junsu's scent, his eyes flaring at their close proximity, "Because I've been fantasizing about it for weeks, I just used the distraction as an excuse to do it."

Junsu doesn't know why, but he smiles at the confession. He raises his hands and cups Jaejoong's face, Jaejoong's own hands circling Junsu's wrists as he leans forward and angles his lips up toward Jaejoong's. It was meant to be a short soft kiss, but the moment their lips make contact it becomes clear that that's not going to be enough.

Heat flares and the kiss deepens as Junsu's arms rise up to circle Jaejoong's neck while Jaejoong's own drop to wrap around his waist as he pulls Junsu closer. Junsu happily gives up control of the kiss to Jaejoong as he runs his tongue over the seam of Junsu's lips. Junsu moans, granting him access to explore causing Jaejoong to release his own low growl of pleasure. Jaejoong walks them back toward the bed and follows Junsu down when his knees hit it.

Jaejoong kisses a trail down Junsu's neck, his hands sliding under the barrowed shirt to find Junsu's toned abs. Junsu's scent really was intoxicating thinks Jaejoong as he runs his tongue along the pulse point of Junsu's neck, his fangs grazing the delicate skin making Junsu moan from the sensation.

A brief knock on the door was all the warning they got before Takeru waltzes into the room and pulls Jaejoong off of Junsu.

"What the hell," he demands wrenching himself out of Takeru's grasp.

"Your human cannot afford to lose any more blood today and we both know you were about to bite him. Plus, this is my room and I will thank you not to stain my favorite bed sheets. Now come wait out in the hall with me so he can put his pants on or do I need to go get Reita?" Takeru grabs Jaejoong by the arm and drags him out of the room leaving a flushed and slightly confused Junsu lying on the bed.


	7. Explanations (Part2)

Changmin sat at the dining table with Reita and the other six vampires who had showed up to help fight off the things that had attacked them earlier, questions whirling through his head. He didn't know what to ask first.

"Why don't we start with introductions," says Shou interrupting Changmin's thoughts. "You've already met Reita and Jaejoong. I'm Shou," he says and then going from right to left around the table makes the rest of the introductions, "this is Aiji, Maya, Miyavi, Takeru, and Kaoru."

"Changmin," he responds automatically. "Can all vampires read minds?"

"Yes. All vampires can read minds, but there are always exceptions."

"Meaning you can't read all minds," Changmin says understanding. "What are the exceptions?"

Changmin's curious nature makes Shou smile, _Yunho's going to have his hands full with this one._

"Here," says Takeru handing Changmin a notebook and pen, "take notes for your friend. I do not want to have to go over this again. I have a date later and I refuse to waste time with explaining this again."

Takeru receives several eye rolls before Shou speaks up. "Let's start with the basics shall we? When it comes to mind reading, humans are the easiest to read because, no offense, humans never put up any mental defenses. The exceptions being the truly mentally insane because their minds are too chaotic and often have a toxic effect on us because of how said chaotic thoughts tend to blast out at us like an attack. Humans with strong psychic abilities and those who know how to defend against it. For example, you have a very strong mind and given the right amount of time you'll probably be able to block out most of the ones trying to gain access. Plus, your own abilities will help reinforce those defenses."

That statement makes Changmin look up from the notes he's writing. "My abilities? What are you talking about, I don't have any abilities."

"Sure you do," Maya says while offering him a bright smile, "it's faint, but we can all sense it."

Changmin is highly doubtful, but he decides they can argue about that topic later. Switching back to the previous topic, "I'm assuming that since you guys are real that the other mythical monsters are real as well. So can vampires read their minds, and what about other vampires' minds?"

"Yes, we can read other supernaturals," says Shou.

"Except zombies," Aiji interrupts, "they don't really exist, and honestly, I don't why you humans thought them up. They're disgusting."

"Agreed," says Changmin. "The notion of zombies flies in the face of everything I believe in as a doctor. I save lives, zombies are mindless murderers."

"Anyway," Shou says getting back to the subject at hand, "aside from the other supernaturals, yes, vampires can also read other vampires as well, so long as the vampire doing the reading is older than the one being read. For example, I'm the second oldest vampire in this region, so that means that out of all the vampires in this region there is only one whose mind I'm not able to read."

"Wow," says Changmin looking a little unsure, "but has there seriously never been a case of a younger vampire being able to read an older vampire?"

"Not to any of our knowledge no. I suppose it could be possible if the vampire in question was born with an above average amount of power. A vampire's power grows as they do, meaning the older they are the stronger their power."

Changmin nods his head as he makes more notes. "What about other kinds of powers? Reita healed Junsu after he fed off of him so, I assume that you can do a lot more than just read minds."

"And you would be correct," says Miyavi with a smirk on his face. "We can also control the minds of humans, other supernaturals, and even some other vampires, but that generally only applies to new turns. That's just one of the basic abilities that vampires have. There are four different types of powers," he explains watching Changmin intently as the human scribbled in his notebook, "basic, blood inheritance, individual, and forbidden."

"Forbidden," Changmin asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Shou says knowing he'll have to explain that one. "Forbidden abilities are essentially dark magic, powers that threaten the balance of the natural order of things. Have you ever heard of necromancy?"

Changmin nods his head not liking where this was going, "The dictionary definition says it's the art of conjuring up the spirits of the dead."

"Why am I not surprised that this kid actually reads the dictionary," says Aiji only to be smacked by Maya.

Changmin shrugs at the remark, "Knowledge is power. Plus, I get bored easy and love learning," he says lightly, earning a laugh from some of the others. "Why did you ask me about necromancy?"

"Because that's one of the forbidden powers," Shou explains. "What the dictionary doesn't mention is that it's a power that enslaves. Conjured spirits are forced to do whatever the one who summons them wishes against their will."

"How is that any different from mind control?"

"We can't make a person do something that goes against their basic nature," Maya chimes in, his bright smile no longer present. "We can force a person to sleep, to stop talking and be completely silent, we can take away their ability to move, and we can even alter memories and plant suggestions, things that are essentially harmless. We can't make you do something you wouldn't normally do."

"For example," Shou says taking back over, "you believe in saving lives and would never willingly take someone's life and a vampire using ordinary mind control wouldn't be able to make you either. Now let's say you were a spirit summoned by someone with the necromancy ability, he or she would be able to force you to kill someone even though it goes against your nature."

Changmin is unable to suppress the shutter that runs through him. He averts his gaze away from Shou, his eyes landing on Maya, who seems to have gone tense, his eyes downcast at the table, and his hands clenched into fists. "You've seen it done before, haven't you?"

Maya's head snaps up at the question, his eyes wide with shock as he stares at Changmin. "How did…"

"Your posture."

Maya averts his gaze again, biting his lip as if trying to keep the painful memories at bay.

Changmin turns his attention back to Shou, not wanting to ask, but needing to know, "Why would they do something like that?"

Shou sighs, "Because death by ghost looks the same as someone who died of a heart attack or a brain embolism, or an accident. Worse still is that if they're strong enough, the one using that ability can actually use it to reanimate a fresh corpse that no longer houses a soul, like a person who is brain dead, the body still works, but there's nobody home. Forbidden abilities are generally of that nature."

Changmin swallows and fights the urge to be sick. He didn't need to be a genius for his mind to conjure up ideas and the imagery to go along with them, each one more gruesome than the last, of why someone would reanimate a body.

"Unfortunately you're right on the mark," Shou says obviously reading Changmin's mind.

"Let's move on to the other types of abilities," Aiji says jumping in. "How about we go over some more of the basics. Aside from being able to heal and the mind reading and mind control, some of the other abilities tend be more of a physical nature."

Everyone at the table were more than happy to change the subject.

"If you've ever read anything about vampire myths, you'll find that most of things that they say we can do are basic abilities."

"What about the ones that say you can transform into mist or wolves and bats," asks Changmin.

The vampires at the table laugh, "No," says Aiji, "there are abilities that relate to that, but those fall under the blood inheritance and individual categories. Anyway, some of the other basics include speed, strength, superior senses, and night vision."

"Okay," Changmin says nodding. "What about the other two types?"

Kaoru is the one who answers this time, "Regarding the myths that claim we can transform, these most likely got started because some human caught a vampire using one of two different abilities. Some vampires are gifted with elemental abilities, so the mist myth was most likely started by someone with a water based ability who summoned the mist to mask his or her presence. The other possibility is a concealment ability, which allows the user to completely disappear into their surroundings."

"What about animals?"

"Only shifters can change into animals."

"Shifters?"

"Ya know, like werewolves, werecats, basically all weres," Takeru says with an impatient sigh, "but they prefer to be called shifters."

"So that part of the legend is actually about shifters and not vampires," asks Changmin.

"That's a definite possibility," Kaoru says. "Another possibility is a vampire with an animal control ability. It's actually a pretty rare ability, roughly speaking only one in every two hundred vampires have it so it's classified as an individual power. The name is pretty self-explanatory, but if you really want to know more about it you should talk to Jaejoong, he's one of the lucky one in two hundred."

Changmin is surprised by the information, but nods his head making a mental note to do just that. "So what are some other types of individual abilities?"

Miyavi takes back over now, "Well, first off and Kaoru lightly touched on the topic, individual abilities are generally rare in type. For example," he says, his smirk from before back in place, "I have a couple of individual abilities myself."

Changmin's eyes widen in shock, "Can you show me?"

Miyavi's eyes suddenly glow with mischief, "With pleasure," he says leveling his gaze on Changmin as he focuses his energy.

Changmin shifts in his seat finding Miyavi's intense gaze unnerving. He's about ask what Miyavi is doing when he feels his stomach drop down towards his feet as he gasps in surprise. His hands gripping the armrests in a death grip as he stared down at the table of vampires now looking up at him. "Oh shit."

Miyavi laughs and stands up from his seat and in the next instant is floating in front of Changmin. "When I was human and still a child I found out that I could use telekinesis. Now this was about four hundred years ago so I obviously couldn't tell anyone about it, not even my family knew. I would go in to the woods to practice almost every day, pushing my limits, I could move large boulders and trees by my late teens. My power was greatly amplified after I was turned."

Changmin gulps, "As fascinating as all this is, could you PLEASE PUT ME DOWN," he practically shrieks.

"Right," says Miyavi as more laughter rings out, "sorry." He gently lowers Changmin's chair back down to the floor and Changmin lets out a sigh of relief before picking his pen back up and scribbling everything down. Miyavi floats himself back down into his own chair, "This brings me to my point. When it comes to individual abilities there are different types. _Rare_ , like Jaejoong's animal control, _turns_ , which refers to turned vampires like myself who are born with abilities which become amplified once we're turned, and _natural_ , which refers to natural born vampires who develop abilities outside of their blood inheritance."

Changmin just nods his head as he writes all this down. When he looks up he says, "First off, never do that again," muffled laughter follows the demand. "Second, you said you had two individual abilities, what's the other one?"

"Shadow control."

"What does that do," Changmin asks.

"It means that I can control the shadows and darkness around me," he explains and all the lights in the room suddenly go dark for a few seconds before coming back on, "like that. I can even pull shadows in around myself to hide myself from view and even mask my presence all together."

"Could you do that when you were human?"

Miyavi shakes his head no, "I only developed that ability about fifty years ago."

"I want to ask what other kinds of abilities the rest of you have, but I'm afraid we'll be here a very long time if I do, so I'll save that question for another time." Changmin glances down to scan back over his notes, "So what are blood inheritance abilities?"

"Blood inheritance are abilities passed down vampire bloodlines," Shou explains.

"So they're like, hereditary?"

"Exactly. When a vampire is born he or she automatically inherits the same abilities that the parents possess. It's the same with new turns as well. If a vampire turns a human then that human automatically inherits the abilities of the vampire who turned them."

"Wow," Changmin says absorbing that piece of information, "that must mean that there are some extremely powerful vampires out there."

"Yes," Shou explains, "in fact that's generally how our region leaders are chosen, assuming they're not insane."

"Region leader?"

Shou nods his head, "They're like the alphas a wolf pack. They're the ones who keep order, make sure that the vampires in their regions follow the rules and things like that."

"Who is this region's leader?"

"Her name is Kumi Koda," says Aiji, "but she hasn't been seen in almost thirty years, so I guess that would make Shou the next region leader should a crisis ever arise."

"What happens to powerful vampires who go insane?"

"They're either killed or captured and sealed away like Victor," Aiji suddenly stops and looks at Maya with wide eyes. "Oh shit, sorry Maya."

Maya ignores him and stands up and leaves the room.

When Changmin can no longer see Maya he turns back to the others and asks, "Who's Victor."

Reita is the one who answers the question. "About six hundred years ago there was a vampire named Victor who openly used the forbidden abilities. He was so powerful that in order to stop him the leader of the region had him captured and sealed away. Enraged, Victor swore that he would one day escape his prison and take his revenge on the one who imprisoned him and his entire bloodline. No one knows where he was hidden away, but some believe that he kept his promise and is now out there somewhere, free."

"And I take it from Maya's reaction that he knew Victor."

"More than knew," says Aiji, "they lived together for a few months and Maya was the one who turned him into the region leader of the time."

"Why don't we take a short break," Shou suggests, "it's been a long afternoon and I think we're all getting a little hungry. So while Changmin digests this new information we'll go scrounge up some snacks."

After the other vampires had left him alone, Changmin gets up to go in search of Maya, unable to curb his curiosity. He doesn't have to go far. Maya is in the living room sitting on the couch and appears to be lost in thought. Changmin is unsure how to proceed.

"Did anyone ever tell you curiosity killed the cat," Maya asks motioning for Changmin to take a seat on the couch next to him.

"I've been told more than once that it's my best and worst quality," Changmin says with a sheepish smile as he sits down.

"You want to know about me and Victor," he phrases it as a statement not a question.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"It's fine," he says with a sigh and turns to face Changmin. "Everyone else knows, I guess one more person won't hurt."

"Were you two close?"

"Not really, I met Victor a few months before he was captured. He took me in after I was turned and I thought he was a good person. I couldn't have been more wrong. I'll never forget the night I saw him use his necromancy ability," Maya visibly shudders at the memory. "The son of the human king had been poisoned by an assassin sent by a rival kingdom. Victor recovered his body to bring him back for his own purposes. He didn't care that I'd seen him. I watched in horror as the prince rose from the bed to kneel in front of Victor, eyes completely white as Victor used his power to imprint his desires of what he wanted the prince's body to do. I fled the house and went to the vampire leader of the region, told him about Victor and that night Victor was captured."

"Turning him in must have been hard on you," Changmin says sympathetically and places a hand on Maya's shoulder.

Maya gives him a weak smile fighting back the tears that are threatening to spill over. "It was," he says wiping away tears having lost the battle to keep them at bay, "but not for the reasons you think. I felt so betrayed and stupid that night."

"Why would you feel stupid?"

"Because Victor played me and I let him," he says in frustration. "When I met Victor I was fresh out of the turn and all alone because the vampire who turned me had abandoned me before the turn was even finished. I was confused and starving and Victor showed me kindness and taught me how to survive as a vampire. I latched on to him like he was a lifeline," Maya is visibly shaking now with suppressed sobs. "I was so blinded by gratitude that I couldn't see who he really was until it was almost too late."

"If he was so evil, why do you think he took you in," Changmin asks unable to see the reason behind the vampire's actions.

Maya gives him a dry, self-deprecating laugh, "Victor apparently had a sense for strong talents. My blood inheritance is an earth based ability. Even as a human I was really good with plants, I never had trouble getting any kind I wanted to grow, so my blood inheritance just added more to what I could apparently already do and really strengthened my original plant growing ability. I also wound up developing a rare kinetic ability, which allows me to draw on the kinetic energy around me and use it however I see fit, I can even use it as a weapon if I want to."

"So if you had still been with Victor…"

"He would have used me as a weapon."

Twenty minutes later Changmin, Maya and the other vampires were back at the dining table refueled and reenergized from their snack break.

"Changmin," says Shou, "I know you want to ask about the things that attacked you and Junsu, but I should warn you that it might take awhile to explain. So, that being said, is there anything else you want to ask?"

Changmin thought for a second before an inane question pops into his head, but he didn't want to seem rude by asking.

Shou laughs, "Don't worry about it. I was born in 200B.C."

"You're over 2000 years old?!" Changmin is sure that his eyes are practically bulging out of their sockets.

"You can ask me history questions another time."

Changmin nods his head automatically.

"I'm 623," Maya says, "but you already had a rough idea after Reita told you about Victor."

"I'm 676," says Takeru, "now let's move this along please. Miyavi is 485, Aiji is 229, Reita is 853, Kaoru is 366, Jaejoong is 112 and Yunho is 111."

Changmin's jaw hung open as Takeru listed off everyone's ages, but snaps it shut at the mention of Yunho's name, he suddenly becomes irritated. "What's his problem anyway? At least when Reita was snapping at me he had a reason."

The statement earns him a few chuckles and a slightly sheepish looking Reita.

"I get that the guy is in love with Jaejoong, he couldn't have been more obvious with that possessive stunt he pulled, but why is he so hostile?"

"Yunho doesn't like humans. He doesn't even ever leave the Aokigahara area, so try not to take it too personally," says Maya.

"In fact," says Aiji, "until today I would have said that he and Reita shared the same opinion about humans."

Reita can feel Changmin's eyes on him before he looks up and shrugs. "When Boa told me what happened and suggested that we both stay away I did. After that, it just seemed like too much trouble to be around other humans, so I made up excuses to explain my reasons. It's like they say, if you say something often enough, you start believing it to be true." Reita sighs, "When he was a kid Junsu would try to follow me all over the forest. At first, I just thought that he was just an annoying little kid, but after awhile he kind of grew on me. He told me once that he thought of me as like a big brother, so yeah, dealing with humans after that was difficult."

Maya and Aiji give him sympathetic looks as Kaoru gives his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay, again Reita's reasons seem completely understandable," says Changmin. "Yunho just seems like an asshole."

No one, not even Takeru, is able to restrain their laughter at the statement.

"Man, I love this kid," says Aiji wiping tears from his eyes.

After the laughter has died down Changmin brings up the question he'd been dancing around by asking his other questions. "What were those things that attacked us earlier?"

Shou clears his throat, "We call them Others. We don't really know much about them aside from the fact that they generally stay away from other supernaturals, exhibit scavenger characteristics and they only seem to exist in the Aokigahara forest."

"How is that possible," Changmin asks in confusion, "and if they're scavengers by nature why would they suddenly attack us in large numbers like they did?"

"I have a theory as to why they only exist in Aokigahara, but as to why they attacked you, I'm not entirely sure."

"Junsu's arm was injured," Reita chimes in, "maybe they caught his scent and liked what they smelled. Unfortunately I can vouch that his blood taste ten times better than it smells, which in itself is enough to make your mouth water."

"Okay, that's my best my best friend you're talking about," Changmin says more than a little grossed out by the current conversation.

"Sorry."

Changmin waves off the apology, "So tell me about your theory."

"Ever heard of ley lines or dragon lines," asks Shou.

He nods his head, "I've heard of ley lines, but not dragon lines. Ley lines are invisible lines that supposedly run through the earth and are made up of some kind of magical energy."

"Dragon lines is just another name for them," Shou informs him. "They're real and there are several that run through the forest. When the lines cross they create vortexes, which put out a lot of power, which in turn can effect the surrounding area."

"And you think that the Others are the byproduct of these vortexes," Changmin concludes.

"Basically," Shou says nodding, "but here's where my theory about them kind of hit's a wall. If they are the byproduct of the vortexes, then it should stand to reason that they are sustained by the vortexes as well, meaning they shouldn't be able to travel far from the vortex that created them."

"I take it that that isn't the case though."

Shou shakes his head no. "They move freely throughout the forest, although they can't seem to exist outside of it."

Changmin thinks that over for a moment before an idea comes to him. "Maya told me that he's able to control kinetic energy, so that means that are other vampires and supernaturals who can potentially control other types of energy, right?"

Shou nods his head in conformation.

"So it stands to reason that there may be someone who can control vortex energy or at least tap into it."

Shou strokes his chin in thought, "So instead of being a byproduct, you're thinking that _someone_ is creating the Others." Shou nods his head in agreement, "You may be on to something."

Takeru sighs and stands up, "I'm going to go check on Jaejoong and Junsu."


	8. A Stressful Night

Everyone now sat in the living room now that Junsu was awake. Takeru knew that Jaejoong was irritated at him for cockblocking him, but they both knew he'd been right to do so. Jaejoong was silently sulking because Reita was staring daggers at him, forcing him to keep his distance from Junsu, who was sitting right next to Reita on the couch.

Takeru clears his throat, "Now that Junsu is awake and no longer using my room, you'll have to excuse me. I have to get ready for my date tonight," and with that said he makes his exit.

Junsu automatically leans into Reita's side, laying his head against his shoulder when the vampire had wrapped his arm around him. It reminded Junsu of when he was little and how Reita would hold him while they all talked. They would listen to Boa sing beautiful songs that always moved Junsu on some level even though he hadn't known why at the time. The memory makes him smile when a thought comes to mind.

"Whatever happened to Boa," he asks Reita. "Is she still around?"

Reita nods his head in confirmation, "We don't really see much of each other anymore though."

"It would be nice to see her again," Junsu says before sitting up straight to glare at him.

The sudden change in his mood is so quick that it leaves everyone in shock and unprepared for what Junsu does next. Before any of them has any time to react, Junsu punches Reita in the arm just hard enough to make Reita flinch.

Kaoru growls at him and goes to grab him, but both Reita and Jaejoong grab onto his arm to stop him. "What was that for," Reita asks while climbing into Kaoru's lap to keep him seated.

"I just remembered the day I brought my brother to the forest to meet you guys," he says still glaring at Reita, oblivious to the danger he had just put himself in. "You didn't show up that day and he couldn't see Boa. If you had been there that day Junho wouldn't have thought I was crazy and might have backed me up when my parents had me put on schizo drugs." Junsu takes a deep breath trying to get his emotions back under control. "I've spent the last twelve years believing that you guys weren't real, that I made you all up. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a kid and your entire family thinks you're crazy?"

Reita looks guilty and averts his gaze from Junsu's. "I'm sorry."

Junsu sighs running a hand over his face. "Where the hell were you that day anyway?"

Reita gulps and actually manages to look guiltier somehow as a blush creeps up his neck and across his face. "I… um… I was with someone."

"Let me guess," Junsu says still clearly annoyed, "Uruha."

Reita looks at him in shock, "How do you know about him?"

"What do you mean," he asks rolling his eyes at him, "you used to talk about him all the time."

Reita shakes his head in denial, "No I didn't."

"Then why can I remember you talking about that purple outfit of his that you liked so much?"

Reita's jaw drops at this, "I did no such thing," he says his voice rising as his face goes completely red. "I never told you about him and even if I did, I never would have told you about that because you were a kid."

Junsu crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at him, "Then I guess you also didn't tell me about the night you snuck backstage after his performance and…"

"HELL NO I didn't tell you about that," Reita shouts jumping to his feet.

From the corner of the room Shou began to laugh.

Shou, like everyone else, watched the exchange between Junsu and Reita in silence, but unlike the others he was fighting a losing battle against the urge to laugh. Shou had slipped into their minds as soon as soon as Reita had spoken his first denial. Both of them were telling the truth.

"What are you laughing at," asks Miyavi.

Still laughing Shou explains, "They're both telling the truth. Look into Junsu's mind and you'll see why."

Junsu tenses as the remaining vampires in the room all turn their gazes towards him. All of them gasp in surprise at what they find.

"It seems that Junsu was quite the mind reader as a child," Shou says, his amusement clear on his face.

"How is that even possible," asks Aiji in stunned disbelief.

Shou shrugs, "I'm not sure, but it's obvious that Junsu is no ordinary human. I don't think that it would be too big a leap to assume that there are some powerful supernaturals somewhere in his bloodline. That's the only reason I can think of that would explain him being able to read Reita as a kid. The drugs he's been taking probably suppressed that ability just like it took away his ability to see the supernatural as well as any other abilities he may have," a look of concern crosses his face as he says this and Jaejoong and Changmin both pick up on it.

"I don't like that look on your face," says Changmin getting to his feet. "What do you think would happen to him if he were to go off his meds?"

Shou sighs as he gives him a tense smile, "I think I've figured out what your ability is."

"Don't change the subject."

"Right, well if the drugs really have been completely suppressing his abilities then it's possible that they'll all come back at once and overwhelm him. Like an addict going through a major withdrawal, only worse."

"In other words, it could kill him," Jaejoong says jumping to the worst-case scenario.

"I didn't say that," he says in a calming voice. "I doubt it would kill him, but the strain may drive him mad."

Junsu felt like all the blood had drained from his body as he listened to what Shou was saying. "Well that's reassuring," he manages to say in a squeaky voice. He stood on shaky legs and swayed.

Jaejoong was there in the next instant with an arm around Junsu's waist. Jaejoong noted that he was extremely pale and that his pupils were dilated. Changmin motioned for Jaejoong to set Junsu back on the couch so he could take a look at him.

"Looks like everything that's happened today is finally setting in," Changmin says checking Junsu's pulse. "It might be a good idea to get him home."

Shou agrees with him and asks Aiji to give them a ride home. "You might need some help with him," he says to Changmin.

Jaejoong gets up to help, but Shou stops him with a look that said he had something important to discuss with him.

Once Aiji, Changmin and Junsu were gone, Shou took Jaejoong and Reita into the library to speak privately.

"What's wrong," Jaejoong asks.

"I'm not sure yet," Shou says honestly, "just a feeling. Reita, is there any way you could get in contact with Boa, I need to ask her some questions."

As they loaded Junsu into his car Changmin found himself grateful that Shou had had the presence of mind to go back for his car because Changmin didn't think he would have been able to find it again on his own. He didn't argue when Aiji got behind to the wheel to drive them back into the city.

Once they were back in a familiar area Changmin directs him to their apartment complex while pulling out his phone and calling Yoochun. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Hey Changmin, what's up?"

"Hey, I need you to do me a favor," he says while glancing in the backseat to check on a now passed out Junsu.

"What kind of favor?"

"I need you to play alibi for me in case Junho calls asking questions."

There's silence on the line, as if Yoochun was thinking it over before asking, "Why?"

"Because I've got Junsu passed out in the backseat of my car. If he asks, you, me, Junsu, and a friend of mine went out for drinks together and Junsu had one too many. You know how Junho gets, so knowing that he'll wind up calling you anyway I need you vouch for me and Aiji."

"Okay," Yoochun says drawing out the word, "but on one condition."

Changmin sighs, nothing is ever simply or easy when it comes to Yoochun, "Which is?"

"You tell me the real reason why Junsu is passed out."

Changmin hesitates a moment before answering, "Let's just say that the two of us have had a very long and tiring day and I'm not saying anything else."

Changmin can practically hear the gears turning in Yoochun's brain as silence once again fills the line when he gasps, as if he'd come up with some incredible conclusion. "Oh my god! You two finally slept together didn't you?! It's about time," says Yoochun cracking up over the phone.

Changmin is too stunned by the accusation to reply at first as his face heats up before finally stuttering out a denial. "You've got it all wrong! Even if that were the case, which it's not, then why would I need you to be an alibi for Aiji too?"

"Because you're kinky and asked him to join you."

"WHAT?!" Changmin is flabbergasted by the statement while Aiji begins to shake with laughter beside him.

"You're such a perfectionist, if you didn't have a few kinks I'd be worried you were a robot. Plus, Junsu has always been open minded when comes to sex."

"And just how would you know that," Changmin asks starting to get annoyed.

"We hooked up in high school a few times," he says and Changmin could almost hear the sly grin in his voice. "Honestly though, I'm kind of surprised you managed to hold out for so long." Yoochun paused for a moment, "Sorry, I got another call waiting. I expect details the next time I see you, bye." Yoochun hung up before Changmin could say anything else.

"Well, that was an interesting conversation," Aiji says not bothering to try and hide his amusement.

Changmin shoots him a glare making it clear that he didn't want to discuss it any further.

Aiji shrugs at him, but changes the subject. "So, why don't you tell me about Junsu's brother."

"Well for starters," Changmin says glad for the subject change, "he's Junsu's older fraternal twin. He's extremely overprotective of Junsu because of everything that happened when they were kids. He's a men's fashion model with an obsession for classic cars and motorcycles. Don't be surprised if he starts interrogating you once we get there." Changmin shrugs, not really sure what else he can say about Junho. He'd known them both since they were all kids, but he'd always gotten along better with Junsu. "Oh, he's a great cook too."

Aiji chuckles, "Wow, you've known him for over ten years and that's all you know about the guy. That's sad."

Changmin rubs the back of his neck knowing that Aiji was right, "Maybe, but the two of us never hung out together unless Junsu was there. Turn right at this stop sign."

As they pulled into the parking lot Changmin shows him where to park before sending Junho a text to unlock the front door if it was locked. He replies a moment later with a question mark, but Changmin doesn't replay back and goes to help Aiji get Junsu out of the backseat.

Changmin helps slide Junsu onto Aiji's back and once he's satisfied that his friend wasn't going to fall off he starts to lead the way to Junsu's apartment. "There isn't an elevator and he lives on the second floor, you sure you got him?"

Aiji rolls his eyes at the question, "Vampire remember. I could carry you both up at the same time and not get winded."

Junho's reaction to Aiji carrying in an unconscious Junsu was exactly what Changmin had expected.

"What happened," he asks before the front door is even closed. "Who's he and why is he carrying Junsu?"

Changmin tells him the story he came up with in the car while leading Aiji to Junsu's room. Once Aiji sets Junsu down on his bed he tells them that he'll get Junsu settled and shoos them out of the room. He does this because he doesn't want Junho to notice the fact that Junsu's arm is no longer injured. Going into Junsu's bathroom he pulls out the bandaging he left there last night to rebandage Junsu's arm to keep up the illusion that he was still healing. He scribbles Junsu a quick note explaining why he needed to keep his arm bandaged when he suddenly remembers about their cloths.

"Shit."

Aiji sat down at the kitchen counter and accepted the cup of coffee Junho offered him as he waited for the man to voice the questions running through his mind.

"So," Junho asks deciding to start off with an easy question, "how long have you known Changmin?"

"Not long," he says, "but I like his personality so it already feels like I've known him for years. Plus it was entertaining watching your friend Yoochun teasing him tonight. He's kind of adorable when he blushes."

"Really? I didn't think he was capable of that."

"Changmin mentioned that he's known you and Junsu since you were kids so I guess you would know all about him."

"Not really," Junho says shaking his head, "he and Junsu have always been close though. Which is why I can't understand why he would take Junsu out drinking."

"Why? You worried it'll interfere with his meds?"

Junho freezes at the question, "How…"

"I saw them on his nightstand," Aiji explains before Junho can finish his question. "If I'm not mistaken, that medication is used to help treat schizophrenia."

Junho nods his head and takes a seat opposite him. "They work though because he stopped seeing things after the doctors put him it."

"Is that why you're so protective of him?"

Junho hangs his head in embarrassment at how easy Aiji seemed to be able to read him and how comfortable he was talking to him. "That's part of it," he says honestly.

"The other part being guilt, right?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

Aiji gives him an easy smile, "Your eyes give you away. Plus Changmin mentioned that you two are twins so, that means you're closer than average siblings. I don't understand why you would feel guilty though."

Junho bites his lip, "It's stupid, but when I couldn't see the things that Junsu saw, it was almost like I didn't know him anymore and I couldn't understand it. Up until that point we'd always known what the other was thinking or feeling, but when he started seeing things I felt like I was losing him. Things between us have never really been the same since then."

"Did you ever think that the doctors may have been wrong about him?"

Junho nods his head with eyes his downcast, "Briefly, but only because I was so worried about him. You see, Junsu got really depressed not long after he started taking his meds because he couldn't see his invisible friends anymore. It didn't help that Changmin wasn't around at the time either."

"Where was he?"

"In America. A relative of his mother was really sick so he and his parents flew to the states to help out. They were gone for about two months." Junho lets out a sad sigh at the memory.

Aiji reaches across the table counter and places his hand over Junho's and gives it a comforting squeeze.

Junho looks up finally meeting Aiji's gaze and gives him a half-hearted smile before continuing. "Junsu stopped talking a couple weeks later and didn't speak a word until Changmin came back. I later found out that he had started to believe that Changmin wasn't real too because he had left around the same time he started taking his meds."

"That must have been hard on you," Aiji says in a sympathetic voice while absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over the back of Junho's hand.

Junho nodded, "I'll never forget the day that Changmin came back, it was the first time he'd spoken in almost two months. He was so happy that it was almost like having the old Junsu back."

Changmin walks into the kitchen at that moment catching them both off guard. He looks like he's about to say something when his gaze zeros in on their hands. "Am I interrupting?"

The question has them both jerking their hands back. "Nope, we were just talking," says Aiji while Junho's face begins to redden.

Changmin raises a skeptical eyebrow, but doesn't comment. "Well anyway, I got Junsu settled," he says turning his attention to Junho. "I went ahead and changed his bandaging and I wouldn't be surprised if slept in tomorrow."

"Alright," says Junho effectively masking his earlier embarrassment now that they were talking about Junsu, "but why'd you take him out drinking anyway? You know he's always been kind of a lightweight."

Changmin sighs, the day finally starting to catch up with him as well and his patience was wearing thin. "Relax Junho he'll be fine. When are you going to ease up and start treating him like an adult? I get that you want to keep him safe, but he's not a child. Besides, you know I wouldn't have let him either if I thought it would hurt him." He runs a hand through his hair in frustration before turning to Aiji and asking, "You ready to go?"

"Right behind you," he says standing up, but hangs back until Changmin is out of earshot. "Don't let what he said bother you too much," he says turning back too Junho and offering him a small smile, "he's had a long day."

Aiji catches up with Changmin right as he reaches the door and follows him outside. Taking a deep breath of the cool night air Changmin turns to Aiji and asks, "Do you need a ride home?"

"No," he says shaking his head. "I can manage on my own, but tell me something. Do you know if Junho is seeing anyone right now?"

"You too huh? Good grief, those two must be giving off some kind of vampire attracting pheromone. Wait," he says stopping to think about it for a moment. After everything that had happened today the idea of a vampire attracting pheromone didn't really seem all that crazy after all.

Aiji shrugs, "Who knows, but most vampires don't like the idea of interspecies relationships. Narrow minded as it sounds, it kept a lot of them out of trouble and alive throughout the centuries. Now are you going to answer my question or not?"

"He's not dating anyone that I know of. Though last time I checked he was straight so I don't know if it matters as far as your chances are concerned," he answers while still thinking about his pheromone idea. "Can I ask you something."

Aiji nods as they start walking towards the stairs.

"Aside from the obvious, what do you think attracts a vampire to a human?"

Aiji thinks about it for a minute, "Well, I can really only speak for myself, but I think turned vampires such as myself find it easier to be around humans because we used to be one and dating one gives us the chance to feel that way again. As to what attracts us, well I don't think it's all that different from what attracts humans to other humans. Although scent does play a heavier factor for us and I'm not just referring to the scent of that person's blood."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a little hard to explain," he says scratching the back of his head. "Supernaturals rely on scent to help defer between friend or foe. In all the time I've been a vampire I've found that a person's scent often reflects the person's personality. It's almost instinctual, we just know. So your pheromone theory is probably right."

"Do vampire relationships ever last long," Changmin asks unable to curb his curiosity. "I mean you guys mentioned earlier that vampires can have kids together, but the way you describe the intolerance of most vampires, well I can't help but wonder if love ever plays a factor in it."

"Of course it does. A vampire can only have kids with their mate. Don't ask me why, but personally I think it's nature's way of keeping us from overpopulating. It's like that for all supernaturals, but unlike with most humans nowadays, once we've found our mate that's it."

"How do you know when you've found them?"

Aiji shrugs, "It's different for everyone from what I understand. You should talk ask Shou, out of all of us, he's the only one who's ever had one."

The word _had_ made Changmin stop, "Had?"

He nods while shoving his hands into his pockets, "She was human and unfortunately she died before he could turn her."

Changmin didn't know how to respond to that so they walked in silence the rest of the way to his apartment.

Once they arrived at his door Changmin turns to thank him for all his help today, but Aiji waves him off having read his mind. He thanked him anyway as Aiji zipped up his coat which reminds him of his earlier concern.

"I just remembered that we didn't grab our coats before we left the forest."

"So?"

"So what if someone finds them? They're both soaked with Reita's blood and there are officers and volunteers who routinely search the forest for bodies. If someone finds them, their first thought won't be suicide, but murder. Any rational person who saw all that dried blood would think so, especially since it's not just one blood drenched coat but two. And what about all those dead Others? People are gonna think there's serial killer on the loose."

Aiji watches as Changmin bites down on his thumb while his mind runs wild trying to come up with a way to fix the situation. He laughs while grabbing onto Changmin's shoulders, "Calm down Changmin. I'll go pick them up on my way home. As for the bodies, well we've found that they disintegrate a few hours after death and any blood left will be absorbed into the ground. So relax. You're tired and letting your imagination run away with you. Go inside and try to get some sleep. If you're really that worried about it give me your cell number and I'll call you when I have them."

Changmin agrees giving him his number before heading inside his apartment.

Changmin tried to relax while he waited to hear from Aiji, but soon found himself pacing the length of his bedroom while chewing on his thumb. It had already been half an hour since he'd left, but he was trying to remind himself that Aiji was having to navigate the forest at night so it may take him a little extra time to find the correct area. He was so absorbed with his pacing that when his cell finally rang he nearly jumped out of his skin. Snatching up his phone he answers just as it starts to ring for the third time.

"Hello?"

"I've got the coats," he says right off the bat causing Changmin to release a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "I assume you're not going to want these back."

"It might be a good idea to burn them."

Aiji laughs at that, "Will do. Oh, and just to put your mind further at ease, all traces of the Others are gone."

Changmin sighed with relief and thanked Aiji before hanging up. Setting down his phone he turns off the lights and falls into bed, instantly falling into a deep welcome sleep.


	9. Dreaming of Death

_Junsu stood at the edge of the forest waiting. Waiting for what, he wasn't sure. As he stared through the gaps in the trees and into the forest he felt the hair on the back of his neck slowly start to rise. He'd caught someone's attention and they were coming to greet him._

 _He wanted to move closer into the forest, but found that his feet were firmly rooted to the pavement that bordered its' edge. He suddenly felt like he was standing too close as it was._

Never leave the pavement's edge. It's too risky to enter the forest _, whispers a voice somewhere in the back of his mind._

 _Wait, what? He'd been in the forest countless times before. He'd always felt at home here walking among the trees._

 _So, why did he suddenly feel like he would never come back out if he went inside now?_

 _Taking a deep breath, Junsu closes his eyes as he felt his senses open to his surroundings. The presence he'd felt a moment ago was getting closer, only she was no longer alone._

She?

 _He didn't know how he knew that, hell he wasn't even sure what was going on. He almost felt like he wasn't in control of his own body anymore._

 _He furrowed his brow as he tried to concentrate on the quickly approaching presence. There were at least five of them, the woman and… something else. Something was wrong. Whoever was following the woman didn't feel right. They felt darker, colder and…_

Hungry.

 _He's unable to suppress the tremor that suddenly runs down his spine as opens his eyes. That's when saw her._

 _She was sprinting through the trees trying to out run the four pursuing her. They were fast, staying just out of his line of sight. Whatever they were, they wanted the woman and Junsu was sure that they were about to catch her._

 _"This way," he shouts at her not thinking about the fact that he was making himself a possible target as well._

 _At first, he wasn't sure if she'd even heard him at all, but then he saw her veer in his direction. She'd almost made it to the of edge of the forest when one of the things chasing her jumped in front of her causing her to retreat back deeper into the forest._

 _Junsu cursed silently as his body sprang into motion as he darted in after them. He had to help her somehow. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late._

 _Hours or maybe just minutes later, he wasn't sure which, Junsu stopped to catch his breath. He'd lost sight of the woman and her pursuers a little while ago, but had kept running in the hope of catching up to them. He strained his senses while he tried to calm his breathing, hoping he could locate her once he sensed her presence again._

 _No dice. All five of their presences had completely disappeared._

 _"Dammit," he huffed slamming the side of his fist into the tree he was standing next to in frustration. Slumping against the tree, letting it support his weight so he could remain standing._

 _He'd just screwed up big time. Not only had he failed to help that poor woman, he'd left the pavement, blindly running into the forest. He mentally cursed his own stupidity as he finally got his breathing back under control._

 _Straightening from the tree he scanned his surroundings while feeling more than just a little disoriented before turning back to the way he came. He knew he hadn't been running in a straight line, but he figured at least there was a road somewhere in that general direction. The sooner he got of there the better._

 _He'd only been walking a few minutes when he felt himself get tackled from behind. The force of the impact stealing the air from his lungs as his body was slammed into the ground. For a few terrifying moments everything went black as he feels cold, rough hands flipping him over onto his back. When he finally manages to draw in a breath the world comes crashing back into view._

 _He wished it hadn't because the thing pinning him to the ground made his blood run cold. It looked almost human in shape, but it clearly wasn't, at least not anymore. Its skin was powder white, lifeless eyes tinted with a shade of red that reminded him of the color of blood. Aside from the ragged cloth tied around the creature's lower body it was naked. He flinched as it moved its face closer to his own and began to sniff at his neck._

 _His body trembled as felt the thing's tongue lick a path from his neck up to his cheek. As it straightened it brought up one of its' clawed hands up to his face, quickly slicing open his cheek. He watched in horror as the creature brought the now blood stained claw up to its' mouth and licked it clean, mouth forming a twisted grin which showed off razor sharp teeth._

 _It was at this point that Junsu felt his body begin to struggle, desperately trying to shove the creature off him and when that proved impossible he bucked his hips startling the creature off of him. Kicking out his right foot he manages to nail the creature underneath its' chin, momentarily stunning it._

 _Junsu was on his feet in the next instant sprinting away from the creature. In a matter of seconds it was hot on his heels as he weaved through the trees while vaulting over anything that threatened to trip him up. That's when he started to hear the screeching._

 _It was the most gut wrenching thing he'd ever heard in his life. At first it came from behind him, but it soon surrounded him. Blasting at him from every direction, shattering his eardrums as he felt blood begin to trickle out of his ears._

 _He wanted to stop, his body protesting under the current strain, but he knew he was dead if he did. He wished the damn thing would just give up already._

 _He stumbles over a hidden rock and is sent flying from the force of his forward momentum. He lands hard, the sting of new cuts making themselves known along with a big gash on the right side of his forehead. He wastes no time getting back to his feet only for the world to spin off its' axis, which sends him straight back down to his knees._

 _That was all the time the creature needed to catch up with him. The next thing Junsu knew, he was grabbing onto the creature's wrist as it grabbed a fist full of his hair and began to drag him away._

 _Junsu fought to stay conscious as he tried to struggle out of the creature's grip, but it was no use. He had no more strength left in his body and went limp with exhaustion as his vision began to fade, everything felt numb, before the darkness swallowed him whole._

 _Junsu wasn't sure how much time had passed when he next opened his eyes, but the sun was still out so, he didn't think it had been too long. Looking around he found himself lying on the ground next to a cave opening. He slowly pushed himself up to his knees grateful that his head didn't start spinning again._

 _"Look who finally decided to wake up," calls a voice from just inside the cave._

 _Junsu felt his hair stand up as goosebumps covered his arms. Peering inside the cave he tried to see who was talking, but all he could see was blackness. His heartrate took off as sense of dread and unease settled over him. "W-who's there," he asks unable to suppress the tremor in his voice._

 _The question goes unanswered as a cloaked figure steps of the cave. "I've been watching you, Toshiya."_

Toshiya? Who's that _, wonders Junsu, but before he knows what's happening he feels himself answering as a voice that isn't his own leaves his mouth. "How do you know my name?"_

What the hell?!

 _Junsu wanted to clamp a hand over his mouth, but found he no longer had any control over his body whatsoever._

What the hell is happening to me?!

 _"I know a great deal about you Toshiya. I became aware of you that first day three years ago when you first started calling the spirits out of the forest. I tried very hard to ignore you, I really did, but lately that isn't the case. You see, every time you cross over one of those spirits, my children," he says motioning to the creatures that Junsu hadn't even known were there until that moment, "lose out on a hunt and they don't like that."_

 _"The spirits of the dead are meant to cross over," Junsu hears himself answer, once again in a stranger's voice. "Spirits that linger after death risk getting lost or worse. If they're not careful they may change into something so twisted their soul may be permanently damaged. That's not what their loved ones would have wanted for them."_

 _The cloaked figure laughed at this, "How sweet. You truly believe that, don't you Toshiya. How naïve." He moved to stand in front of him. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret Toshiya. I know all about your family and the powers that your clan possesses, but what you don't know is that they've been lying to you about just how powerful you really are. You can do a lot more than banish evil spirits and help them cross them over, you could control them if you wanted."_

 _"That's a lie."_

 _"I wouldn't lie about something like this because you're just like me." The man squats down so that the two of them are eye level. Blood red eyes glowing in the shadows of the cloak. "You're a necromancer Toshiya. I could teach you so much, but only if you join me."_

 _"Never," Junsu practically snarled at him as venomous anger began to eat away at his gut, "I'd rather die."_

 _The man sighs as he shakes his head in mock regret while straightening. "A pity, I was so hoping you would see reason, but I guess it can't be helped."_

 _Junsu never saw him move, but he sure as hell felt the impact of the man's foot connecting with his stomach to send him flying. He was fighting to breathe as he curled in on himself._

 _"Alive or dead, it makes no difference, I will add your power to my own," he said motioning for the creatures to attack._

 _Junsu knew they were going to kill him, but he'd be damned before he let this bastard use him for anything. He pulled out the knife he always carried with him and hoped his family would forgive him for what he was about to do._

 _Whether the man had seen it or not he wasn't sure, because he started shouting at them to stop him, but it was too late._

 _Junsu lifted the blade up to his throat and slit his carotid artery. He bled out within seconds allowing his spirit to escape the forest and rendering his body completely useless to the cloaked figure._

Junsu shot up in his bed with a gasp. He was drenched in sweat and shaking as his heart raced in his chest. His hands fly up to his throat searching for a wound that didn't exist. "What the hell was that about?"

He shivers again, only this time it's from the cold and not a byproduct of the nightmare. His room is freezing to the point that he can see his breath whenever he exhales. Rubbing his arms, he pulls his covers up and around his shoulders before glancing at the clock next to his bed. It's three in the morning.

"Junsu," calls a whispered voice.

His head whips in the direction of the voice, his entire body going tense. His eyes widening when they find the source. A stranger was standing on the other side of his bed.

His room is dark except for the moonlight casting a soft blue glow throughout the room. The man seems to almost glow within the light as well, giving him an otherworldly look.

He has short dark hair, a narrow face, and deathly pale skin. Junsu zeroes in on his eyes however, their red glow sending his mind back to that terrifying night twelve years ago. The urge to scream bloody murder is almost impossible to resist.

"Please don't scream," he says softly, "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Junsu knew without a shadow of a doubt that, despite his appearance now, this was the being that had scared him as a child and who had played a key role in many of his nightmares since. "How can you be here? Reita said that Boa got rid of you."

He lets out a rueful laugh, "Almost, but not quite. I wasn't completely myself the first time we met. The circumstances of my death were still too fresh in my mind. I never meant to frighten you," he says looking sincere, "but a new spirit can change depending on how they died. It sometimes takes a while for them to regain themselves."

Junsu wasn't sure how he felt about this, but he can feel his body starting to relax if nothing else. "Who are you? More importantly, why'd you come back?"

Junsu didn't think it was possible for a ghost to blush, but this one proved him wrong as he scratched the back of his head.

"Right, how rude of me. My name is Toshiya and technically speaking I never really left, you just haven't been able to see me until now."

Junsu was no longer paying attention, his brain having latched onto the man's name replays his nightmare over again in his mind. Toshiya was what the clocked figure had called him. Did that mean that the nightmare wasn't really a nightmare at all, but a memory?

"You slit your throat in the forest."

Toshiya looks at him with a myriad of emotions flittering through his eyes as he nods in confirmation. "I had no other choice."

Junsu is sure that his face is turning green as he scrambles out of his bed, uncaring that he has an audience, as he rushes into his bathroom to be sick.


	10. The Request and the Phone Call

When Junsu opened his eyes, he was in his bathroom. He must have passed out after puking his guts out. Grabbing onto the sink, he pulls himself up from the unforgiving tile floor. He's only slightly taken aback by his reflection in the mirror. His skin was a sickly pale color and there were dark circles under his eyes, while his hair looked matted and greasy.

Junsu grabbed his toothbrush and set to work trying to scrub the terrible taste out of his mouth. After two glasses of mouthwash he hopped into the shower to wash away what felt like five layers of dirt and grime.

When he finally emerged an hour later, he felt relatively human again. He hesitates at the bathroom door, wondering if Toshiya was still out there. Taking a deep breath, he opens the door and sticks his head out to look around his room, sighing with relief when he doesn't see him.

He quickly goes over to his closet and gets dressed for the day. He notices Changmin's note as he's grabbing up his pills. He sighs after reading it and heads back into the bathroom for the spare bandaging. Well, at least now he knew why his arm had been wrapped up when he gotten into the shower. He attempts to wrap it the same way Changmin had three times before giving up. He would just have to stop by his place before he left for work.

Picking up the pill bottle again he stops short of opening it, staring at the label while thinking about what Shou said last night. It was nice to know that he hadn't actually been crazy as a child, but because the pills had done such a bang-up job of suppressing whatever abilities he had, he couldn't really risk not taking them or he might actually go insane this time around. He just couldn't win.

"Don't take them," says a voice from behind him.

Junsu jumps, nearly falling off of his bed as he turns to see Toshiya standing on the other side of his bed again. "Do you get a kick out of scaring me or something," Junsu asks getting irritated.

"Sorry, stealth comes with the territory of being dead," he says sheepishly. "But you shouldn't keep taking those pills. You don't need them."

"Shou seems to think otherwise."

"Just hear me out," he says coming around the bed to stand in front of him. "I know you haven't had access to your powers in a long time, but even as a child you were a natural talent and I honestly believe that it wouldn't take much for you to be that way again."

"What do you mean by that?"

"As a child, you used your abilities instinctually, meaning they wouldn't overwhelm you as easily as Shou thinks. I've been attached to you for the past twelve years as your guardian spirit, so…"

Junsu holds up a hand to stop him, "What the hell is a guardian spirit?"

"It's a spirit who attaches themselves to a living person in order to help and/or protect them," explains Toshiya. "Nine times out ten you'll usually find a guardian spirit with people just like you. Humans with some type of ability."

"And you decided to attach yourself to me."

"Exactly," he says taking a seat next to Junsu on his bed, only it didn't shift under the new weight because Toshiya's ghostly form had no mass to it. "Look, you have abilities similar to my own when I was alive, so I can help you with those. Once you get started I'm sure it'll all come back to you and then the rest should be easy."

"What's the catch," asks Junsu, "because there's always a catch."

Toshiya looks down at his lap for a moment before meeting Junsu's gaze again. "I need you to talk to my family for me. They're still looking for me and they need to stop."

"Why not just talk to them yourself, can't they see spirits as well?"

"Yes, but I can't. I've tried, but I just can't face them," he says looking away again.

Junsu studies him for a moment before recalling what he said last night. "What did you mean when you said you didn't have any other choice? And for that matter why the hell did I dream about the day you died?"

"So you would know the truth. The man in the cloak is extremely dangerous and he wanted to use me for my powers and if I had let those things…"

"Others," Junsu supplies, "that's what Jaejoong said they call them."

Toshiya didn't really care what those monsters were called, but he corrected himself and continued. "If I had let those Others kill me, he could have brought my spirit back to my body, trapping me and successfully tying me to him and allowing him free access to my powers," he explains. "I couldn't let him use me like that and potentially make me into someone just like him. By killing myself, he didn't have enough time to gain control of me. Once my spirit escaped, my body was useless to him because a person's power is connected to their spirit. In short, no spirit means no power. The Others destroyed my body after I escaped, so there's not even any bones to bury. That's why I need you to tell my family what happened and to stop looking for me or the same thing could happen to them. I need them to know the truth. In return I'll help you learn how to control your abilities."

A week later and Junsu still isn't sure if he made the right decision when he agreed to stop taking his meds. His 'sight', as Toshiya liked to call it, was definitely working at full power again. He felt like he was constantly doing a doubletake lately and questioning everything he was seeing. He was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

He hadn't seen Jaejoong or any of the others from that night, but he and Jaejoong have been talking over the phone almost every night since. Aiji had apparently, at some point, convinced Changmin to give him Junsu's number so he could give it to Jaejoong. They talked about everything, from their childhood to what they wanted to do in the future. He didn't however, tell Jaejoong about Toshiya. In fact, he hadn't told anyone, not even Changmin, about him because he didn't want everyone worrying about him.

"I have practice today," Junsu tells Toshiya as he's getting ready to leave, "so do me a favor and just stay out of sight."

"Are you worried that someone else might see me?"

"Nope," he says shaking his head, "I just don't need any distractions while we're practicing today. Key told me he found us a gig that pays almost triple what we normally make, so I need to stay focused today."

"Alright," Toshiya says while sighing, "I'll stay out of sight."

"Thanks," he says grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

Key met Junsu at the door of the studio so he could fill Junsu in on their new gig and go over the set list.

"What did you say the club was called," asks Junsu while scanning over the music approved by the club.

"Lust."

Junsu stops short to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"The club is called Club Lust," Key says again looking a little sheepish.

"That sounds like the name of some kinky sex club." Junsu narrows his eyes at Key, "Please tell me you didn't book us a gig at some kinky sex club."

"Don't worry," he says, "the owner promised that his customers would keep their hands to themselves."

Junsu rolls his eyes at this, "Fine, whatever, at least now I know why they're so willing to pay us so much. Have you been to check to make sure they have a big enough stage for all ten of us?"

"Yep, their stage is huge, so we'll have plenty of room. Oh, and one more thing, they want us to perform the songs live. Oh come on," Key says when Junsu gives him an 'are you serious' look, "it's not like we haven't done that kind of thing before. Plus, it's basically the main reason they hired us."

"What do you mean?"

"The club owner saw that video of us performing at that cosplay convention and liked what he saw. Besides, of those seven songs, you wrote and choreographed two of them, which makes our job that much easier."

Key was referring to the songs _Fever_ and _Tarantallegra._ Junsu knew he was right about that, but he was still worried about the other five songs. He'd listened to Ross Lynch's _Illusion_ and _Addicted_ by Saving Abel once, but he'd never even heard of _I Get Off_ by Halestorm, _Move Your Body_ by My Darkest Days, or _Want Your Bite_ by Chris Crocker.

"What did you have in mind for the other five?"

"That's why I wanted you to come in today, so we can figure that out."

They decided to start with _Addicted_ and _Illusion_ since they were both at least a little familiar with them. They spent the next few hours listening to the songs while working on the choreography.

Yunho was getting frustrated. It had been almost a week since their fight with the Others and he hadn't been able to gather any solid information on what had caused their erratic behavior. Shou had contacted him and informed him of his and Changmin's theory about the vortexes and how it might be connected to what had happened. The idea that he might need some help with this only irritated him more.

There was only one person he could think of that might be able to help him with this problem and that was Tiffany. Yunho actually dreaded the idea of calling her.

It had been almost three years since he last saw her in London and he wasn't even sure if she'd want to help him. They hadn't contacted each other since they ended their affair together when Yunho came back to Japan.

Tiffany was a passionate woman who was as beautiful as she was wild. She was half vampire and half succubus, a dangerous combination to be sure, but Yunho had been attracted to her the moment he'd laid eyes on her. She worked for a fashion magazine and had been in London on an assignment and Yunho had just happened to literally run into her on his way to visit some distant relatives.

Sighing in resignation Yunho pulls out his phone and scrolls through his contacts, silently praying that her number hasn't changed in the last three years, he hits the call button when he finds it. It rings five times before the call is picked up.

"Hello?"

"Tiffany?"

"Yes Yunho, it's me," she says with a laugh. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of you calling after three long years?"

Yunho is relieved that she actually sounds happy to hear from him. He decides not to waste any time and launches into his reason for calling.

She didn't say anything right away after he finished and he wondered if she was even still there.

"So let me get this straight," she finally says after a minute of silence. "You want my help because you think that the recent behavior of these _Others_ may have something to do with the vortexes that can be found in Aokigahara and you want me to determine if someone's been manipulating them because of the fact that I'm able to do the same thing."

"Exactly," Yunho says, relieved that she had understood him and the theory that the others had come up with. "I know it's a lot to ask, but you're the only one I could think of who can do what Shou is purposing is happening. I'll never forget the night you showed me could tap directly into the ley lines."

She laughs at this, "I'm glad that I left such a good impression on you. Of course, I remember that night more for what happened after."

Yunho is unable to stop his body's response as the memory flashes through his mind. It really had been one of the more memorable and intense nights of his life, but he suspected that Tiffany had that effect on everyone.

"Well, I won't make you any promises because I've never tried to tap into vortex before, but you're in luck," she says snapping Yunho out of his musings. "It just so happens that I'll be in Japan on business this Friday. How about we meet up after I'm done with work?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Great, a co-worker recommended a café that we could meet up at. I'll text you the info and we can set up a time later."

Yunho quickly agrees before saying goodbye and disconnecting the call. He quickly sends a text to Shou to inform him of his plans before falling onto his bed for much needed nap.


	11. The Temple

It had taken several hours before Junsu and Key came up with a rough idea of how they wanted to choreograph the other songs. Junsu was having the most trouble with _Want Your Bite_ because the lyrics took on a whole different meaning for him after everything that had happened recently and he couldn't keep his face from turning red every time it played. He couldn't remember ever blushing so much in his life, and there were several instances in particular that he had in mind on which he was basing that conclusion.

He's more than happy to let Key take point on that song.

His phone goes off just as they're taking a break from filming the steps to show the rest of the group. He quickly checks the caller I.D. before taking the call.

"Hey Yuhwan, what's up," he asks by way of greeting while taking a sip from his water bottle.

"I found that temple you were talking about yesterday," he says getting straight to the point, meaning that he's probably on his break as well.

The announcement causes Junsu to choke on his water instigating a short coughing fit. He'd tried looking up Toshiya's family temple himself, but hadn't had any luck so far. It shouldn't have surprised him that Yuhwan had been able to find it so quickly because he had always been able to dig up hard to find information with little effort. "How'd you find it so fast?"

"It's tied to an unsolved missing person's report from about twelve years ago," Yuhwan explains. "Apparently, Toshiya, the oldest son of the owners just up and disappeared one day without warning. Everyone and anyone who knew him and his family said that it didn't make sense for the guy to just up and leave like that, so most believed that there must have been some sort foul play involved. Oh, and get this," he says with apparent interest in his voice, "this Toshiya guy and you have a favorite hobby in common."

Junsu is sure he already knows what it is, but asks anyway, "What's that?"

"According to his friends, Toshiya liked to spend a lot of time around Aokigahara. Plus, the temple is only a twenty minute drive from the forest, they said he usually took the bus there almost every other day. Freaky right?"

"Yeah, freaky," he says biting his lip with frown. "So, where is it?"

"I've emailed the directions and a link to the article to you."

"Thanks Yuhwan, you're the best," he says and hangs up before Yuhwan thinks to ask him why he wanted to find the temple in the first place.

He quickly pulls up his email and skims through the directions before clicking on the attached link. Yuhwan had done a good job of summing up the article, but that isn't the only thing that the link contains. Several other articles, interviews with the family and friends, Toshiya's missing person's flyer and few family photos that appeared to have been taken in front of the temple. They looked like a happy family.

He's so absorbed in looking through everything that he jumps when Key suddenly claps him on the shoulder.

"Whoa," he says taking a step back as Junsu whirls around to face him while clutching his phone to his chest. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What were you looking at," he asks.

"Nothing," he says quickly while locking his phone and putting it away.

Key shoots him a look of concern, "Are you feeling okay," he asks placing his hand against Junsu's forehead, "you've seemed a little out of it all day. What's going on?"

Junsu isn't all that surprised that Key is picking up on his edgy energy. They'd known each other since their last year of high school when Key had transferred from South Korea. Key had kind of been a loner when he'd first arrived, but Junsu figured that any teenager who'd been forced to move to a different country for their senior year might feel the need to seclude themselves from others until they got over the cultural differences.

On the day they had officially met Junsu had been getting ready to head home after his club meeting when he suddenly heard music coming from inside the school. Curious, because he knew that no one stayed later than the kendo club on Fridays, he decided to go and investigate. The music led him to the music room, the door to which was slightly ajar. Peeking inside through the crack he saw a lone figure dancing along with the song that he had recognized as being an instrumental version of one of Teen Top's, though he couldn't recall the name of it. He opened the door wider as he continued to watch and ultimately recognizing the person dancing as the new transfer Key. When the song was over Junsu hadn't been able to stop himself from clapping in appreciation of Key's skill causing him to whirl around in surprise.

"Sorry," Junsu said in Korean figuring Key would have an easier time understanding him if he did. "I heard your music and came to investigate."

"You're Korean," asked Key.

"Kind of," Junsu said stepping into the room, "my parents are, they moved here shortly after getting married, but my brother and I were born and raised here, technically making us Japanese. Our parents made sure that we learned Korean as well though." Walking over to Key he held out his hand in greeting, "I'm Junsu by the way, nice to meet you."

"Key," he said tentatively shacking his hand.

"I know," he said with an easy smile, "you're all the girls' favorite topic lately. Sorry about spying on you, but you were so good that I couldn't help myself."

A blush crept across Key's face at the compliment making him avert his gaze and shove his hands into his pockets. "I'm not that good."

Junsu laughed at his modesty, "I beg to differ. That was Teen Top right? From the looks of it, you were focusing on Niel's parts if I'm not mistaken."

Key looked up in surprise at Junsu's recognition of the dance and nodded mutely in acknowledgement.

"Have you ever seen _Outside Castle_ by H.O.T," asked a suddenly excited Junsu.

Key grinned at the question, his eyes lighting up in delight, "Who hasn't? It's only one of the best videos ever."

"I know right," he said setting down his school bag, "especially the intro. The first time I saw it I'm pretty sure my jaw almost hit the floor in awe. I won my middle school talent show with that dance."

"You dance too," Key asked in surprise while eyeing Junsu's kendo bag.

"Yeah, I've never been great at sitting still so I started dancing," he explained while pulling out his phone and pulling up the song. He hit play and sets his phone next to Key's on the old teacher's desk.

After dancing to the song so many times over the years the steps were like second nature to him as he began dance along to the song. Key stood back and watched for about the first thirty seconds of the song before joining in, his dancing quickly falling into sync with Junsu's.

From that moment on they became fast friends and Key quickly integrated himself into Junsu's close group of friends. Key managed to quickly befriend the others in the group easily, claiming that it was only because Junsu was an excellent judge of character when it came to choosing friends.

"You know you can tell me if something's bothering you," Key says squeezing his arm.

"I know," Junsu says smiling at him, "it's just been a stressful week is all."

A mischievous look enters Key's eyes at this statement, "Well in that case," he says circling his arms around Junsu's waist and pulling him close, "maybe I can help you get rid of all that stress." He kisses the spot beneath Junsu's ear, smiling when he feels him shiver in his arms.

"As tempting as that sounds," he says pulling out of Key's hold, "I'm seeing someone right now."

"Bummer," he says giving Junsu a fake pout. "It feels like forever since the last time."

This makes Junsu laugh, "It hasn't even been a full two weeks. Plus it was your idea to keep things casual between us."

Key sighs dramatically at this, "Do I know this new beau of yours?"

Junsu shakes his head no and tells him about Jaejoong.

Junsu has a dreamy look in his eyes as he talks about Jaejoong and Key can't help the small twinge of jealousy he feels towards the man. "Wow," he says mustering up a happy smile for his best friend, "he must really be something if you're already this smitten with him."

He laughs as Junsu blushes at his statement. "Have you told your brother about him yet?"

Junsu's face turns thoughtful for a moment, "I did mention him to him the night I met him, but there wasn't much to tell at that point. I doubt he remembers, but Changmin has met him and they seemed to get along well enough."

Key is silently relieved to hear this, because while Junsu is generally an excellent judge of character, Changmin is even more so, picking up on things that they all might have otherwise missed. Key himself always feels like he's walking on eggshells around the man. Then again, if wasn't so perceptive, Changmin wouldn't have been able to become a doctor as quickly as he did, finishing med school in less than half the time it would normally take a person.

Junsu leaves the studio looking over the directions on his phone, knowing that there's a bus that'll let him off pretty close to the temple, the only problem is getting to the bus station in time to catch it. He's starting to regret not having driven to the studio this morning.

"You need a lift somewhere Su," Key asks walking up behind him after having locked up the studio.

Junsu visibly brightens at the offer, "Yeah, you think you could give me a ride to the bus station?"

Key raises an eyebrow at this, "The bus station? What happened to your car?"

"I walked this morning and I don't have time to go and get it."

"Okay…," he says walking over to his car and unlocking it. He opens the passenger side door while looking at Junsu, "Well, where are you going, maybe I can drop you off there instead?"

Junsu shows him his phone with the directions to the temple pulled up on the screen.

Key's eyebrow shoots up again when he sees where Junsu is wanting to go. "Why are you wanting to go to a temple? I thought they gave you the creeps."

Junsu knows he can't tell him the real reason he's going, but he doesn't want to lie to him either. "They do, but this one belongs to the family of a friend who passed away about twelve years ago," he says settling for a half truth. "The anniversary is coming up and since we're gonna be busy for a while, I figure I'd better stop by today so I don't forget."

"Oh," Key says unsure how else to respond. Junsu had never brought this friend up before. "What was his name," he asks starting the car.

"Toshiya," Junsu says while glancing over at Key and noticing the uncomfortable look on his face. "It's fine if you just want to drop me off at the station. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"No, I don't mind taking you," he says quickly while merging into traffic, "but if it's all the same to you, I'll wait in the car. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he says with a laugh. "Besides, if you took the bus and something happened, Junho would never forgive me."

"Call me when you're ready to go," Key tells Junsu as the man gets out of his car in front of the temple. "I'm going to check a little shop that we passed on the way."

"Will do," he says with a wave and shuts the passenger door.

As Key watches as he begins his ascent up the steps to the temple, feeling of uncertainty suddenly assails him. He's not sure of the cause for his sudden uneasiness, but gives himself a shake to be rid of it. _It must be because of the temple,_ he tells himself because like Junsu, he'd never much card for them either.

He puts his car in gear and spares another glance in Junsu's direction only to spot another man walking next to him. Key hadn't seen the other man's approach, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention.

They appear to be discussing something as they make their way to the top of the stairs. _He must be one of the family,_ he thinks because he can see the man motioning to somewhere that he can't see from his vantage point.

A tap on his passenger window brings him out of his musings. He rolls down the window without a second thought when he sees that it's a woman, who appears to be in her fifties, wearing what appears to him to be a nurse's uniform. "Can I help you?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she says with a friendly smile. "I thought you might be lost."

"Oh, no," he says with a chuckle, "I just dropped off a friend."

"Well, that explains why I've seen your car before," she says nodding to herself as if in understanding. "This temple doesn't often get new visitors," she explains when she sees the confusion on his face. "I've been here almost every day for the past five years and it's always the same faces."

"Do you have a patient here," he asks unable to hide his curiosity.

She nods, a look of pity entering her eyes, "A coma patient, the poor dear. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, but she's been like that for almost thirty years now. I can only imagine what horror poor Jane must have gone through to keep her this way."

"Jane? That's an unusual name," he says. "Is she a foreigner?"

"No," the woman says looking even sadder, "that's just what we call her because that's what she is, a Jane Doe. But luckily, the Oda family, who run this temple, are kind enough to pay for her continued care."

"Why would they do that," he can't help but ask.

"I can't say for sure," she says with shrug, "but if I had to guess, it'd probably be because she suddenly showed up here right before she fell into her coma. At least, that what I was told."

Junsu can't seem to sit still as he waits for the Oda family to appear. Toshiya had told him as he'd been walking up the stairs that his family lived in a small house directly behind the temple. It was as he'd made his way around back that he'd run into Nariko, the very pregnant wife of Toshiya's younger brother Kai, and she'd brought him here to the living room to wait while she went to get them.

He thought to distract himself by looking at the photos on the wall, some of which he recognizes from the links Yuhwan sent. He'd always thought that you could learn a lot about a person by the photos they displayed.

These photos tell him that the Oda family is extremely close-knit and dedicated to the work they do in the temple. They also make him feel extremely guilty about what he had to tell them.

Turning away from the wall of memories, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. It wouldn't do him any good to get so worked up and then not be able to do what he came here to do.

It's as he's doing this that he begins to hear a faint beeping coming from somewhere else in the house. He tries to ignore it at first, but whether from simple curiosity or because his mind is willing to latch onto any distraction at this moment, he goes in search of the source of the sound.

He doesn't have to go very far, just down the hall from the living room in fact, it's the only room with its door open. Peeking through the doorway, he's surprised to see that the small beige room is occupied by a woman asleep in bed. The sound he'd heard coming from a machine that sits next to the bed. He immediately recognizes it as a heart monitor. He also notices a blood pressure cuff fastened around her left arm and the I.V. drip in the right.

He spots the medical chart hanging from the foot of the bed and walks over to pick it up. He knew how to read it from all those nights that Changmin had had him quiz him while he was in med school. The chart is pretty straight forward, the woman is listed as a Jane Doe and all of her vitals are normal as far as he can tell, except for the fact that she has apparently been in a coma for thirty years and barely looks like she's twenty-three. He assumes that it must a typo and if it isn't, then she must have been just a child when it happened.

He returns the chart and goes around the other side of the bed to get a better look at her. She looks small and pale, almost ashen really, but that's no surprise considering condition. With her long black hair, she reminds him of the old Yuki Onna* legends that he learned about as a child, though considering everything he knew now, he wonders if maybe aren't all legends after all.

Junsu can't quite put his finger on it, but something about the woman draws him to her. Without thinking about what he's doing he finds himself reaching out to move a stray lock of hair off her face.

 _HELP ME,_ shouts a voice inside his head as soon as his fingers make contact with her skin. The voice is so loud that he flinches and yanks his hand back.

 _What the hell,_ he thinks while he stares at the woman with a perplexing look etched on his face. He tentatively reaches his hand back out, this time touching the back of her hand.

 _Please help me,_ shouts the same voice.

Junsu's mind races as he fumbles to pull out his phone and take a picture of the woman. He needed to talk to Shou about this.

Junsu hears the front door open just as he walks back into the living room. He quickly takes a seat on the couch only to back up when Nariko and three others walk into the room. He bows in greeting as Mr. and Mrs. Oda step forward.

"I'm sorry to intrude like this," he says after introducing himself.

"Nariko said you have information on our son," Mrs. Oda says taking a seat with a resigned look on her face. Her husband's expression mirrors hers as stands next to her, his arm wrapping protectively around her shoulders.

Junsu glances down at the floor, taking a moment to gather up his courage before meeting their gaze and telling them everything that Toshiya had asked him to.

"I'm sorry," he says bowing his head when none of them respond right away, "I know that this isn't the kind of news that any family wants to hear and I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now, but Toshiya said that it was very important that I tell you this. He's very worried about your safety."

"Thank you," says Kai, speaking up for the first time since he'd entered the room. There are tears in his eyes as he holds his wife close. "We've all known for a long time that he wasn't coming back, not alive at least, but we continued to search because we still needed answers."

"I can see why he chose to become your guardian spirit," says Mrs. Oda while smiling at him sadly.

Junsu isn't sure how to respond to that, so he remains silent, once again trying to suppress a blush for the umpteenth time today.

Junsu sits at the bottom of the stone steps waiting on Key while replay the last hour in his mind. He has mixed feelings about it all. He's glad that he was able to give them the closure they'd been looking for, but at the same time he feels guilty because of the grief that was attached to that closure.

He sighs to himself knowing that he's over thinking things and pulls out his phone again. He pulls up Jaejoong's number and hits the call button.

Jaejoong answers on the second ring, "Hey Su," he greets sounding happy and Junsu can just picture his smile.

He smiles a little in response to Jaejoong's happy tone, "Hey," he says knowing he needs to keep his conversation brief since Key could pull up any second, "I don't have much time to talk because I'm waiting on someone, but I was wondering, are you at the manor by any chance?"

"Yeah, why," he asks.

"I need to talk to Shou about something," he answers, but doesn't go into any detail. "I think this could be important. Could you guys meet somewhere in a couple of hours?"

"Sure, where," asks Jaejoong, concern creeping into his voice.

"I'll text you the address, it's a café that a couple of my friends own together."

Jaejoong quickly agrees and they hang up so Junsu can text him the address. Key pulls up just as he hits send.

*Yuki Onna prey on travelers lost in the heavy snowstorms that blanket the Japanese Alps in winter. They have an otherworldly beauty, with long black hair and piercing deep violet eyes. Their skin is ageless & as white as snow. Their bodies are as cold as ice, & a mere touch is enough to give a human a deep, unshakable chill. She feeds on human life force, sucking it from their mouths into hers with an icy breath that often freezes her victims solid. They sometimes fall for their intended prey & let them go free. Some marry humans & live happily until their husbands start to notice that they never age & inevitably discover what they really are. Most however, spend their lives hunting humans in the snow. They stay near mountain roads & prey on travelers coming & going, or break into homes & and flash-freeze all of the inhabitants during the night. –Japanese Mythology App


	12. The Confession

Junsu stares out the passenger window in silence, his mind preoccupied with his upcoming meeting with Shou and Jaejoong. He's going to have to tell them about Toshiya and the fact that he'd stopped taking his medication in order to explain everything. Even if he could come up with some kind of excuse, Shou would just read his mind and discover the truth. He's starting to realize that there's at least one major drawback to hanging out with vampires.

Secrets don't exist when you're with them.

Key tried to ignore the Junsu's silence, he really did, but he can't stand it anymore. A solemn Junsu is an unnerving Junsu.

"I met the nurse that works for the Oda family," he tells to fill the silence.

The comment has the intended effect, it draws Junsu out of his thoughts. He looks over at Key with a frown, "Nurse?"

"Yeah, the one looking after the Jane Doe they're taking care of," he says and proceeds to tell him all about his conversation with old nurse.

Junsu walks into his bedroom while drying his hair after his quick shower and immediately spots Toshiya sitting on his bed.

"How'd it go" he asks looking anxious.

Junsu almost wants to ignore his guardian spirit and is unable to mask his annoyance as he says, "As well as can be expected when a person has to tell a family or in this case, confirm that someone they loved is dead and that there isn't even a body for them to bury."

Toshiya is surprised at Junsu's tone. "Did something happen," he asks him getting up from the bed. "What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong,_ " he repeats, his irritation flaring as he yanks a clean shirt out of his closet. "What's wrong is that I can't believe that I let you talk me into talking to your family for you." He tugs on his shirt and stalks over to his mirror to comb his hair, ignoring the stunned expression on Toshiya's face. "Right now I can't decide whether if you're an idiot or just plain selfish."

"What in the world are you talking about," he asks feeling truly bewildered by Junsu's attitude right now.

 _Definitely an idiot,_ he thinks as he whirls on the ghost, "Do you have any idea what you've put them through. You left them in the dark for twelve years when at any time you could've gone home, given them closure they needed and spared them a lot of grief and sleepless nights wondering what, God only knows, had happened to you!"

"I told you why I couldn't see them," Toshiya tries to defend himself.

"And that's what makes you so stupid," Junsu interrupts. "I mean, your family loves you unconditionally and said they understood your reasoning and were just relieved to know that your spirit wasn't trapped in some sort of residual hell or that you hadn't become a Goryo*."

Junsu sighs, scrubbing his hands over his face while sliding down to sit on the floor with his back leaning against the wall. He drops his hand and leans his head back to look up at Toshiya, his eyes portraying a mixture of emotions that the ghost has never seen him display before, even as his face appears to be unnervingly blank.

Right now his eyes are speaking volumes to Toshiya.

In his eyes the ghost can see sadness, exhaustion, resignation, longing, and most surprisingly of all, jealousy tinged with hint of resentment. All of these emotions combined with the black set of his face make Junsu look like someone else entirely.

 _No, it's more than that,_ Toshiya thinks to himself. In all the years that he's been attached to him, Junsu's default mode as always been happy. He almost always has a smile on his face that has a contagious effect on those around him. He had noticed that Junsu's smile hasn't been as bright as it usually is lately, but Toshiya had just assumed it was because the man is still adjusting to his new reality.

 _But what if that isn't the case?_

What if Junsu wasn't as happy as appears to be? Is it possible that he's been suppressing all of his negative feelings so as not to worry anyone and if so, how long has he been doing it?

Junsu suddenly looks years older than he actually is, like man who's seen too much for his still too young years. Like a man who's been carrying a heavy burden in secret for too long.

He looks like the living dead. Not truly living, but not truly dead either. Going through the motions of life, but indifferent to the world around him.

"You really don't know how lucky you are, do you," asks Junsu bringing Toshiya out of his troubled thoughts. "Sometimes I think I would do just about anything for my family to be like yours."

"What do you mean," he asks lowering himself down to the floor so that they're eye level.

"Don't get me wrong," Junsu says with a sigh, "I love my family, but they just didn't understand me the way your family understood you. They didn't even bat an eye when I told them about you. Whereas if it had been my family I'd told that story to, they'd think I'd gone off my meds, which I have, and send me to the nearest available shrink.

"Do you really think that's fair," Toshiya asks searching his eyes, "I mean, everyone in my family is able to do what I could and great many of my ancestors were Taijiya**. They have to be open minded, or they wouldn't be able to do their jobs."

"Maybe," he says rubbing the back of his neck to get rid of some of the tension he can feel building there, "but I get the feeling that even if our roles were reversed, your family still would have still believed you no matter what. Whereas mine thought I had an over active imagination at first and then thinking I was going crazy. Not once did my parents even think that I may have been telling the truth and Junho stopped trying to take my side the moment it became clear that he couldn't see what I saw.

"After my ' _diagnosis_ '," he says using air quotes, while also putting as much venom into the word as he can manage, "they became a helicopter family. That first year was the worst, they almost never left me alone, it was suffocating. Over the years I went out of my way to prove that I was fine. I'll admit that it was and still is easier to deal with Junho's helicopter tendencies because at least he recognizes and respects my boundaries, whereas they didn't exist with my parents for a long time."

Toshiya is silent as processes this information. He can't believe that in all his time with Junsu, he'd never once noticed that he had felt this way. Sure he'd seen sighs of exasperation with an occasional eye roll thrown in, but never anything more.

"How can you be so sure about my family," he finally asks because he isn't sure he wants an answer to any of the other questions currently bouncing around his head.

Junsu shrugs, "Just a feeling I guess," he says as a small starts to tug at his lips. "It might also have something to do the fact that they've care of a comatose stranger for the past thirty years. Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"You mean Jane," he asks while scratching his ghostly chin. "I guess I didn't think about it. I mean she just showed up one day when I was five and after that she was always just there, at some point in my mind she became an unofficial member of the family who's always sleeping. When Kai was a kid, he'd always refer to her as Sleeping Beauty."

Junsu almost doubles over with laughter at this, seeing as how the Kai he'd met earlier had seemed so mature.

"Why do you ask?"

The question reminds Junsu of why he'd called to set up a meeting with Shou. He jumps up to getting ready while explaining what happened in Jane's room and then tells him about theory he'd been working on since.

"Are you sure about this," Toshiya asks him feeling more than little off kilter about what it could mean if he's right.

"No," he admits while pulling on his leather jacket. He'd felt the temperature dropping earlier while he'd been waiting on Key. "That why I need to talk to Shou, but that also means I'm going to have to admit to not taking my medication anymore and tell them about you."

"That's fine," he says while hovering next to him, "I'll stay hidden however, at least until you finish telling them about me, just to be safe."

"Worried they'll try to exorcise you like BoA did," Junsu teases.

"Some vampires have been known to do so on occasion," he informs him with complete seriousness before going _through_ the bedroom door and leaving Junsu behind to chuckle in disbelief. He really shouldn't be surprised anymore.

*A Goryo is vengeful ghost that said to haunt a place or person because of a wrong done to them in life. – Japanese Mythology App

**Taijiya are yokai exterminators. Yokai is broad term used to encompass virtually all monster and supernatural beings, even including creatures from Western mythology, also referred to as "Mononoke" on occasion. – Japanese Mythology App


End file.
